Day 8 - Tuesday 14th October
Getting used to spending each day in permanent state of heavy perspiration!
Early to rise today and off to the airport for our flight to Hyderabad. The driver dropping us at the airport managed to scrape another car, we are just amazed that is the first accident we have been in and thankful that it was only a scrape. We grabbed our bags and left the two drivers shouting at each other. Our flight landed around 0930 at the most wonderful modern airport, and for the first three minutes in the taxi we were thinking “what are we doing here?”. Beautiful buildings, gardens, fountains, where is the poverty? We soon found ourselves in more familiar surroundings, women working on heavy construction at the side of the roads, slum housing and the deafening sound of car horns.
 We checked in to the Peppermint Hotel, and shortly afterwards grabbed a taxi down to the offices of ACET India (Aids Care Education and Training) based in the centre of the city. We have already been in contact via email with Dr Sujai & Dr Lavanya the two doctors who run ACET here and we were aware that today was their HIV clinic. However, we were not prepared to be shown straight in, sat down next to Dr Sujai’s consulting desk and observe while he saw patients and took time out to explain their situations to us. The true horror of AIDS really hit home as these amazing people shared their stories with us.
I will outline a few just to give you an idea ...
The first lady was infected by her husband who had died about 5 years ago and left her with three girls. She had been managing with the anti retroviral drugs since she discovered she was HIV positive and had been attending the clinic from time to time for guidance on how to manage her condition. She had come in today as she was in a lot of pain, she had a large seeping wound on her upper thigh (Dr Sujai said he would spare us the sight of it as it was really horrible), she had anaemia and oral thrush, all signs of deterioration of her health. She was obviously in a lot of pain and very worried that she might infect her family, the doctor and his staff listened to her and gave her some practical as well as medical advice. Her brother had come with her and was told that he did not need to keep her in a separate room as he had been, she should be allowed to live normally with her family. She was very worried about her daughter washing her clothes, which were soaked in puss, but the Doctor advised that she soak them first in warm water for 15 minutes and then it would be fine for her daughters to wash as usual. As she moved on to have her wound bandaged and get some medication, helpers in the clinic kept checking on her and talking to her.
Another lady told us how her husband had infected her and then left her. They had three children and the husband left with their son leaving her to cope with her two daughters. Her youngest daughter Lavinia who was crippled by polio when she was younger and is now 16. She has just undergone surgery to her legs and Dr Sujai told us of this child’s amazing faith. When she went to the hospital for her operation she was waiting with other children who were very afraid and she sat one of them on her knee. The doctors asked why she did not seem to be worried about her operation. “The other children have come alone” she said, “but I have not so I am not afraid”. The doctor looked around and asked who has come with you, to which she answered “I have come with the Lord and he gives me strength”. When the Doctor asked where this Lord was she said “you can not see him, he is here in my heart”. She is trying to bring her mother to God and keeps telling her to stop worshipping idols. We prayed with her mother that her daughter would be able to walk once her legs had healed.
 This clinic is a haven for HIV sufferers, not only are they given medical advice but there is also a listening ear and their hands are held, they are given hugs and prayers if they want them. The love just pours of out this place and the compassionate way these people are treated is such a great witness. The doctor explained that some hospitals will now treat HIV patients but they are very uncaring and do not offer any additional support. In particular the doctors would not touch the patients, so finding a place where they can be treated compassionately is amazing for them. We were told that India definitely has enough of the anti retroviral drugs now, however the Doctors fail to explain that these drugs need to be combined with a really good diet, so often the patients still fall sick.
Many have turned to Christ after being helped by the staff at this clinic, they experience the unconditional love and are drawn to know more. It is so moving to sit and hear their stories, listen to the doctor give medical and practical advice and then to pray for them.
We met an English lady called Helen from a church in the Midlands who is volunteering over here for 6 months. We were discussing the number of children coming in to be treated and she showed us a space where they wanted to create a play area for the children. A local lady called Vali and her had been trained as Play Councillors and wanted to get to know the children who  came in regularly and see if they could get them to open up and talk about their problems more. She is trying to raise money to paint and equip this room. They have been given a new cupboard for the play area and I was asked to inaugurate the cupboard. A ribbon was tied across it and I was asked to cut it with scissors. The staff then fooled around with some of the first toys they had been given for this cupboard. We prayed for their work and that they God gives them strength to continue with this amazing work.
We enjoyed lunch in the ACET offices, we are now real experts are eating with our hands and enjoyed home made rice and curries which were delicious. Terry is feeling a lot better so managed to enjoy it as well.
 Over lunch we met Bhaskar who runs a project called “Rescue & Restore” which is a home for street children from Hyderabad and other children who have been abandoned. Bhaskar had lived on the street himself when he was a child so knows about their troubles. He came to know God after many years living on the street and now works for YWAM. He and his wife had first taken in children from the street to their house, but gradually they made contacts with a church in the Netherlands who started supporting them and had eventually helped him buy land and build a home for the children. He currently has 42 children living with him and was very proud to tell us that he has five children going through college – “imagine” he said, “these children are from the streets and they are going to college now”.
 It was a long and hair raising drive to the Rescue and Restore home, definitely this was our worst driver yet. It was only 20km but it took us about 1½ hours to get there and amazingly we only had two scrapes during this time – once we scraped a wall and then a scooter went in to the back of us. As we came out of the city the roads were even worse and we had to navigate around cattle and goats as well as oxen pulling carts. The home is an absolute haven, set in a small compound with gardens.
Bhaskar first showed where the children help him with growing a variety of foods – bananas, coconuts, mangos, as well as lots of flowers. A wonderful boy called Krishnu joined us in the garden, he was 14 years old and full of life. He told us he arrived here only 3 months ago and loved it, he had made to many friends and was obviously extremely happy. He particularly  enjoyed working in the gardens. The children are largely boys as Bhaskar explained that he did not have the female helpers to take in many girls. However, there were four girls there who had been brought here as emergencies until other homes could be found for them. As we went up on to the first floor we found all the children sitting on the floor quietly doing their homework with a helper / teacher volunteer from YWAM who was assisting them.
Bhaskar told us some of their stories – one boy was left with them as he had a heart condition and his parents didn’t want him, others were picked up off the streets having run away from difficult situations at home, a lot had lost one or both parents. They were such a delightful bunch of children, and we enjoyed looking at their homework before they entertained us with some lively singing.
 Bhaskar’s biggest worry is that the Church in the Netherlands have been reducing their payments and have told him that they will have to stop supporting him in the near future. We later discussed with him his plans to hand the home over to one of the boys who was now studying Social Work at College. In four years time he will qualify and Bhaskar then wants to open another home in a town in northern Andra Pradesh where they have a huge problem with street children, and particularly with gangs. It was already dark and we were very tired, but plans had been made for us to visit a family in another village. Here we met a young couple called Ebby and Sarah who have two boys of their own and have taken in four homeless boys to their family. At the moment they are living in a small house and the  family includes a delightful old gentleman called George who they have also taken in. Their plans are to build a bigger home and get licensed to take in more children. This is a small project entirely supported by ACET India and they are looking to help Ebby and Sarah realise their dreams and provide a home for more HIV infected and affected children.
(Church in India considers the Uganda model of local pastors working in their communities as the best model for the future. They are beginning to train pastors in managing issues within their communities in the same way that ACET Uganda do, when we visited Ebby and Sarah their house is in the grounds of a Bible training school where trainees also learn skills like rural community development, farm based trades, animal husbandry, crafts, etc. Their website is http://tentindia.org/CMS/index.php)
The journey back was a nightmare; how the driver didn’t kill anyone we do not know. He then had to admit he didn’t know where our hotel was. Thankfully we found a gentleman on a scooter who took pity on us and offered to lead us to the hotel so the driver could follow. We arrived back at 1030 and crawled up to our beds. The £30 hotel option obviously doesn’t include double glazing. However, even the constant sounds of car horns couldn’t stop us from dropping straight off to sleep.
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