Our business group  in Satyam  had recently visited  Shelter ,a home for HIV infected  children who are not accepted  into the mainstream of the society and  deprived of the usual love and affection. Managed by Mr. Solomon, Shelter has nineteen children including a toddler, the staff members employed as caretakers who are also  HIV positive.  One  cannot physically differentiate these kids from the normal ones, but on seeing them you can sense their longing for care and affection.

Most of these children go to a nearby school and are not only good in academics, but also in extracurricular activities like singing, dancing, craft making. Indeed it was a surprise to see these children dance with full of energy and enthusiasm to a few popular numbers even though you would be surprised to know   that these children seem to be  well aware of the damocles sword of death hanging before them. Still in the midst of such sufferings the way  they  displayed  their  cheerfulness  was simply astounding.   We felt guilty of not being able to do much to alleviate their pain be it in terms of  inventing a cure for the disease or giving them a lifestyle that can partially make them forget their miseries.

Like us, many other corporates must  also be visiting them as a part of corporate social responsibility.   I was wondering whether such visits bring these children to the state of being a zoo animal where we only sympathize suffering or feed our curiosity to see how an aids infected child looks like.  It is almost similar to how  mentally challenged persons at times can become a subject of people’s curiosity.

The visit was mentally disturbing for some of us but we did leave behind some warm smiles and came back with a heavy heart.  We were glad that at least we could cheer them up even if it was for a very short time.