After destroying the lives of millions in Africa and Southeast Asia, AIDS is now ravaging India. Today, India is second only to South Africa in HIV infections: official estimates put the number of HIV infected men and women at 3 million. Thanks to the slowness with which many have responded to this crisis and the inadequacy of the resources it has employed to fight the pandemic, the number is constantly on the rise. Initially confined to high-risk categories such as intravenous drug users and sex workers, the virus is spreading to every age group, every profession, and every caste. Andhra Pradesh has the dubious distinction of being the state with the highest prevalence of the HIV virus: about 10% of the total HIV cases in India live in Andhra.

As AIDS inexorably advances throughout the region, its impact on the people we serve has grown ever more dramatic. Every year, the virus deprives thousands of children of their parents; an estimated 1.2 million AIDS orphans live in India today. In addition, as time goes by more and more of the children we rescue turn out to be HIV positive. Many of Vijayawada’s street children are at high risk of contracting the disease, as their lifestyle constantly exposes them to sexual abuse and exploitation.

Care&Share is committed to fight the spread of HIV and to alleviate the sufferings of children whose lives are so deeply touched by AIDS. Butterfly Hill>> is giving hundreds of HIV+children and AIDS orphans a new home. The hospital that has been built on the campus will serve as a place where children already affected with the disease can be given adequate medical care. Every child who lands on our doorstep is now tested for HIV. Immediate action is taken if they are found positive. Every child under our care is registered with the government’s AIDS Control Programme; s/he is regularly tested and treated with ARV medicine.

Our commitment developed as we witnessed the devastating effects that this disease has on the lives of children. As important as it is to quantify the AIDS epidemic, it’s easy to miss this tragedy’s true import if we overlook its distinctly human face. Every AIDS victim and AIDS orphan has a unique story to tell