Indian national arrives in Lagos on bicycle for HIV/AIDS awareness

AN Indian national, Mr. Somen Debnath, is currently in Nigeria on ‘Around the World Bicycle Tour’ programme to raise global awareness on the effects of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ( HIV/AIDS) through the education of young men and women worldwide.

Somen, who arrived Lagos on bicycle at the weekend after visiting 110 other countries in the last 11 years through same means, told newsmen that the whole essence of the bicycle tour, which he said started at his hometown in Sundarbans, India, in May 2004, is to ensure people living with the virus are not stigmatized and or discriminated against.

Somen, a graduate of Zoology from the University of Calcutta, India, who started his journey at the age of 14, also stated that the tour, which had been fraught with dangers and challenges, such as being held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan, robbed several in Central Asia, beaten by skinheads, in addition to, serious contention with wild animals, including cheetahs, rhinos, pythons and other life-threatening animals, is all the way fulfilling, for fact that the message is meant to reassure hope to affected persons with HIV/AIDS.

Disclosing how he intends to actualize his mission in Nigeria, he said: “My focus is to meet with the youth through seminars and presentation, as well as meeting with truck drivers, drug addicts and sex workers, who need condom promotion, and drug addicts.

Somen’s goal is to pedal 200,000 km and cover 191 countries till 2020 while also reaching out to 20 million people. He has been travelling on his bicycle for over 10 years and has covered a distance of 112, 150 km across 93 countries.