SOMEN Debnath is clearly a man who believes in long-range goals. He has a plan, a big plan. In fact, a 16-year plan. Since May 27, 2004, the young man from India has travelled to 47 countries. At the moment, he has laid out a programme for himself that will keep him busy for the next 10 years and take him to all corners of the world. Debnath’s hope is to spread awareness of HIV and AIDS around the world. Debnath reached Bratislava on June 28, after entering Slovakia from Poland. On his way across the country he visited Žilina, Trenčín, Trnava and Nitra.
“When I was 14 years old I read in a newspaper article about a man who had died of HIV. It said that AIDS is a disease more deadly than cancer,” Debnath told The Slovak Spectator in an interview in Bratislava. “I didn’t know anything about the disease and when I inquired none of my teachers would provide me with any information.” Two years later he undertook special training and then went on to teach both teachers and students around India about the deadly virus.
Debnath’s next destination is the Czech Republic, followed by Germany, the Baltic and Nordic countries, and then on to the Netherlands, the UK, Greenland and Iceland. Afterwards he will return to the UK to finish his degree in social work and write a book. After this break he plans to set off again in 2012, crossing Africa, South America and then Central America and Mexico to North America, where he hopes to spend two years. By Michaela Stanková
