Andhra Pradesh is the state that has been hit the hardest by the AIDS epidemic that is barelling through the entire Indian subcontinent. One of every 10 HIV cases in India lives in Andhra; in 2002, it was estimated that as many as 400,000 people had been infected in the state, which has a total population of about 76 million.

Care&Share is building a new facility to meet the needs of the increasing number of AIDS orphans in Andhra Pradesh. In 2005, we purchased 27 acres of beautiful mango groves about 40 kms northwest of Vijayawada, in the small village of Veerapanenigudem. Construction is well underway. The first eight homes for children were inaugurated between Nov. 2006 and March 2010. They presently house 300 children. We have received funding to build two other homes for children and a permanent cafeteria, which will eventually replace the temporary kitchen and the temporary dining hall we have built in a Kerala-style hut.

Care&Share envisions Butterfly Hill as a home for hundreds of orphans and street children. And while we have made tremendous progress over the past years, much remains to be done. Here are some of the most urgent priorities: