On September 18, 2009 The Roscommon People covered Ciara Cunningham's story in the article The sad plight of an AIDS orphan. Ciara is one of the winners of EIL Travel Awards 2009. She have travelled to South Africa for nine weeks as part of EIL’s Global Awareness Programme, to volunteer with people living with HIV and AIDS.

In Africa there are 13 million AIDS orphans. “A generation of human beings who have never known a mother’s loving cuddle or a father’s guiding hand. These children will learn life skills in institutions rather than imbibe them from their parents” – Richard Dowden, ‘AFRICA: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles.’

I will never understand how it feels for a child to be abandoned by his family, not knowing when he will see a familiar face again, if ever.

From my first day at ThembaCare I noticed how needy Toliy* was. He constantly wanted to be held. If I sat still for one minute he would climb up onto my lap looking for a hug. Sometimes he would cuddle into my chest and just sob. It was not until I read his file that I realised what he has been through in his short two and a half years on earth.

Before Toliy was admitted to hospital he was cared for by his father. However, the level of care he received was questionable. Toliy was often found alone in his shack or left behind in local shebeens (illegal pubs) that his father frequented. He was admitted to hospital together with his mother, who was also sick. When she discharged herself she was never seen at the hospital or at her home again.

Toliy was admitted to ThembaCare two months ago with just his name and the clothes on his back. Initially his parents could not be traced and he constantly cried out for GoGo, a person who the social workers at ThembaCare were also trying to contact. His mother was recently found in a clinic in the Eastern Cape, hundreds of miles from Cape Town. She is quite ill herself and does not want anything to do with her son. Toliy’s father and GoGo have yet to be found.

The staff and volunteers at ThembaCare gave Toliy a great deal of love and attention and while we could never replace the love of a mother or father, I noticed that in the past few weeks he was much happier and relaxed. Unfortunately, the sense of stability given to Toliy at ThembaCare was greatly disrupted last week when he was admitted to hospital with TB.

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is an aggressive virus that destroys the immune system resulting in sufferers being unable to fight off any disease. Consequently, HIV patients are susceptible to tuberculosis, malaria and numerous other diseases and infections. It is widely documented that TB is the most common disease and the leading cause of death in people living with HIV and AIDS.

Due to Toliy’s strain of TB (it is drug resistant) he will not return to ThembaCare and, upon his discharge from hospital, he will go to a TB clinic for approximately two years. This is a huge setback for him and it is impossible to determine how it will impact on his mental and physical development.

Lynda and I have been to visit him in his isolation unit in hospital and he gets so excited when he sees us. He spends most of his time giving us long kisses on the outside of the face masks that we are required to wear. It is likely that we are the only people that have been to visit him. It is so sad that a child of such a young age has to live with HIV and various other diseases without any support from his family. I hope that some day he gets the love and stability in his life that he so greatly deserves.

While work can be very intense we are very lucky that we have a great host family to come home to in the evenings. Lynda and I are the 81st and 82nd guests to stay with them and they have been most welcoming.

Most Friday nights they light a fire in a big drum outside and we sit around chatting and listening to music. Lynda brought a CD of Kila with her and they love playing it and getting us up to Irish Dance! I do not think that Michael Flatley would be too impressed with our efforts but they have not seemed to notice that we do not know what we are doing!

The occupational therapist in ThembaCare has been requesting a trampoline for a long time and I was delighted to be able to purchase it last week with your donations. The children love it and as many of them have very weak muscles it is a fun way for them to exercise. The toddlers also love sitting on it while myself and Lynda jump behind them so our fitness is really being tested!

* name changed to protect privacy.