HIV
The state of Andhra Pradesh has the second highest prevalence of HIV in India
The rural areas of Andhra Pradesh are home to extremely poor communities who rely on very low wages from farming. They earn just enough to survive.
When the breadwinner of the family becomes sick or dies from HIV/AIDS, their family members often have to give up everything so they don't starve.
Mothers sell their possessions in a desperate attempt to feed their babies. Children drop out of school and start begging to provide a meal.
Worse still, many women and children are thrown out of their communities when their families find out they have HIV/AIDS.
We find pregnant women and young mothers with newborns living on the streets. They have nowhere else to go.
Our team work in the areas surrounding Vizianagaram to support people with HIV/AIDS.
We provide free medical care, food supplies, help to earn an income, health education, and support so that children can attend school.
We work closely with the district government and accept referrals of women and children with HIV/AIDS. We have a safe place for 10 women to live at our Sunshine Mothers’ Home.
We also welcome orphaned or abandoned children into the Brighter Future family at our children’s homes.
Our small hospice provides medical support to the Sunshine Mothers’ Home, children’s homes, and the surrounding communities. There are 10 beds for sick children, and three family rooms for widowed mums to share with their children.
Last year, we cared for more than 100 patients. Nearly half of these were children like Sriman.
Sriman's story
Even in very poor parts of India, it’s rare to see a child as skeletal and malnourished as nine-year-old Sriman.
He weighed just 10kg when we first met him – less than a toddler. If our team hadn’t found him when we did, there is no doubt that he would have starved to death.
Sriman is the only child of an extremely poor family. His mother died of AIDS when he was very young, leaving his father to bring him up alone. Sriman’s father tried to work as a daily labourer while caring for his only son, but over time his health deteriorated. After losing his wife to AIDS, it also began to destroy his own body.
Sriman’s father was overjoyed when a new woman came into his life and they got married. He thought their family’s future would be much better if they raised Sriman together. But when his condition worsened and infections left him weak, his new wife lost interest. Then she became abusive.
Instead of supporting the family, she ridiculed them. When there wasn’t enough to feed them all, she made Sriman go without meals.
When our team visited the village where they lived, Sriman’s father asked them to take Sriman into our hospice. He was desperate not to lose his little boy, but he knew this was the only way to keep his son alive.
Our team could hardly believe that Sriman had survived for so long.
After years of neglect he was severely malnourished. His arms and legs were so thin that his skin clung straight to his bones, and every rib protruded from his chest. Lack of food and proper care had left him so weak that he could barely stand or walk, and he had contracted both HIV and TB.
Support from people like you has kept Sriman alive
Today, we are caring for Sriman in our hospice. Our nurse is with him every day to give him HIV drugs, TB medication and nutritious meals. The doctor does a full check-up once a week, and Victor visits every couple of days.
Most of the time Sriman is so exhausted that he can hardly open his big brown eyes. On the days he feels stronger, he plays board games with Victor.
It’s incredible that Sriman gained 3kg after just 10 days in our care, but the next few months will be critical for him.
Our team hope that he will make a good recovery and join the other children in our Shanti Nivas home, but nothing is certain.
Without our generous UK supporters, we never would have found Sriman that day. Your gifts for children like him are the difference between life and death.
