Chandrakal Orphanage
Nearly a year into our grand vision the dream is thriving and alive. Our new facilities

are now filled with the busy sounds of more than 30 children, AIDS orphans who themselves are HIV-positive. The children have come from the surrounding villages where more than 150,000 of India’s poorest and most vulnerable live and from other villages and cities in Andhra Pradesh.

Living India began with just a few children whose parents had died in a nearby hospice and left their children in our care. Today the children all receive excellent medical care, are all taking ARV’s and all are much healthier than they were roaming the streets of slums or their villages. We have established a school on the compound, employing two teachers to accommodate the varying ages of our kids. We are teaching the kids English and opening up the curriculum to music as the kids become interested. We have a counselor who comes when needed to help those who are still adjusting to their new home.

There is new public playground equipment on the compound, which has become a wonderful outlet for children from all over the area. It is especially wonderful to see our children playing with local children. The laughter all these children share is the best lesson to break down the stigma of AIDS.

We have created our facility with solar panels and a system of cisterns to harvest rainwater and are in the beginning stages of building a series of growing plots where fresh vegetables will be grown year round.

We look forward to opening our community family AIDS clinic in the next year to serve both as a medical outreach and an educational resource. Finally, we are hopeful that volunteer housing can be built so that we can invite people to share in the wonder of these children whose lives are endless stories of hope.

We buried our first child this past year and realize that Living India, like so many organizations who focus on the fragility of children who are HIV-positive, cannot rejoice in the stories of hope without also stopping for a moment of memory.

Our attempt to merely give volunteer time to Living India has had a serious personal cost.I realized once again that coming to India only once or twice a year to visit the children who have become our family is very painful. My trip to Chandrakal was every bit the highlight of my most recent trip to India.

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