On a bright sunny afternoon, 5 Huluran Kasih members embarked on a long journey to Mangalore with the sole purpose of visiting Snehasadan Aids Rehabilitation Centre (an NGO) to help out and to check if subsequent visits by more Huluran Kasih members are possible.
It all started when the president of Huluran Kasih, Kent Yap, found out about this place through an intern working in a hospital. After explaining a little on that place, the intern also suggested that Huluran Kasih could make a visit there to increase the awareness of the club members’ on AIDS, and also to bring some fun to the residents.
After an exhilarating 2 hour bus ride, we reached Bharath Mall, Mangalore safely but had to take an auto to the Aids rehabilitation centre. Approximately 40 minutes later, we reached the Aids Rehabilitation Centre and were welcomed warmly by Father Joy, who’s one of the administrators of Snehasadan. Father Joy, like his name, was a rather jocund person. He brought us around the centre eagerly and told us more facts about the place.
Much to our surprise, Snehasadan is very well managed in terms of its appearance and cleanliness. Snehasadan is actually a permanent home for 35 children, with the age ranging from 5- 15. Besides that, there’s also a treatment place for adults. Any adults who have infections and needed treatment could stay there and the best part is, the treatment there is free of charge!
On top of that, Snehasadan has part-time doctors who are volunteers to look after the patients there five days in a week. They say that the best care is not only treating the body but also, treating the mind. For that reason, they also have two counsellors to make sure the patients have healthy minds. There are also 6 caretakers in charge of the welfare of the children. Looking at how the administration is run, this place was definitely a hope to many people.
After listening to Father Joy’s elucidation on the place, we were also exposed to some case histories of the children there. Generally, most of the children who stayed in Snehasadan are orphans.
One of the stories was really heart wrenching. Little Pricillia was actually ‘picked up’ from the streets by some NGO bodies and she was sent to Snehasadan. No one knows how old she is but can only deduce that she’s about 5-7 years of age. Father Joy told us about 6 months ago, she was ill with serious lung infection. It was life threatening. However, miraculously, she survived and lived well after being put on oxygen for 6 months. As of now, the current Pricillia’s smile coruscated across the room, giving us hope and warmth. She’s one of the most boisterous children there, often bursting into raucous peals of laughter. Her story somehow just taught us one important lesson – we should never, ever give up in life because miracles DO happen.
Father Joy also told us that most of the children there are too young to know what illness or disease are they faced. They came from a traumatic broken family background and a lot of psychiatry help is required to make sure that they grow up with a correct mindset. Therefore, he expressed his hope - he would be very happy if Huluran Kasih can spend some time there to accompany the children, teaching them how to walk through this hard path, and bring them some warmth and comfort they never had.
We left at the place at 4.30, with a promise to Father Joy that we’ll be in touch and would plan a visit there as soon as possible.
