Pune 2023 - Snehalaya

Our day started at 7 am today. After playing cricket yesterday until 12am it was not an easy job to get up and ready by 7am. We then took the bus to Ahmednagar. The bus ride was definitely bumpy, but I think we were so tired that we did not realise it. I woke up 7-8 times during the drive due to bumps. Finally, we reached Snehalaya. This is a charitable organisation which helps women who are sexually trafficked and the children who have HIV/AIDS. We learnt today that there is a still a social stigma among individuals that they should not engage with people infected with HIV/AIDS. However, this is not true at all. We can interact with people who have HIV and still be uninfected. It does not spread from touch or saliva. The virus dies within five seconds when it comes in an open environment. All this information was given to us today.

We were also given a tour of this organisation. It has accommodation for girls and boys. We also saw the hospital that has been constructed recently. The latest achievement of the Snehalaya has been that it has acquired a full-time doctor at the hospital. Earlier the doctor used to visit for hourly check-ups but was not working full-time. Later on, we engaged with the children and played with them. We organised various sporting activities for them like football, frisbee, volleyball, cricket, etc. Everyone had fun and all the students and children were really tired and happy towards the end of the day. Overall, it was a great day.