Rafa

The Rafa home for boys with HIV/AIDS is now a home for young men! Three of the seven boys are now teenagers and the others are between 7 and 12 years old. The youngest and newest member of the family is Tabrez; he came to the house in July 2008 and quickly made his way into everyone’s heart with his very colourful personality and very loud voice.

Last year, Rafa moved from Neb Sarai to a 4-bedroom flat in Sangam Vihar. Though this reduced their expenses it also presented a number of challenges as the water supply and electricity were not in place. After some chaos the family has finally settled and the house is well-functioning. Now, the house will expand by renting a second flat on the same floor, to give more space for the Rafa School and also for James & Esther’s growing family.

Esther is responsible for the boys’ education with Sarah H and Jemmy (carers in Atulya home), and Soniya (former girl in Atulya), as well as different short term volunteers. Rakesh and Gulshan are now in Class 7, Pankaj and Chaman in Class 5, Mohit and Mitesh in Class 4 and Tabrez in Class 1. Though there was no National Open School Examination this year (only for Class 3, 5 and 8), the Rafa School had in house exams with official scorecards and graduation diplomas.

The Rafa Home has been on some exciting outings; in June 2008, the whole home left the heat of Delhi and went to Ambala and Chandigarh (neighboring cities of Delhi), where they visited different places, and rode bicycles out in nature.

November 15 2008, was a very exciting day for the boys when they performed a dance in front of almost 400 people at a school event organized by Commotion in India Habitat Centre.

In December the boys took part in the Shalom Hospital Advance Christmas celebration where they performed song and dance.

In April this year, the boys had a great day at the Fun and Food village outside Delhi, and in the last week of April they had an Activity Week where they did everything from going to the zoo to painting t-shirts.

In the beginning of last year, Gulshan, Mitesh and Chaman, had to start a second line of ARV. All of them are in good health though they have been hospitalized during the year at different times due to infections and viruses.

The boys are growing, not only in age and stature, but also in their faith. Their desire for God is increasing. It is good to see them develop their own individual relationships with God.

In January 2008, after a difficult pregnancy and miraculous delivery, Esther and James were blessed with a baby boy, Nivedan. He is now walking around quite Boys pose with their friends: in Commotion God is our healer The boys relax in Fun and Food Village confidently, and playing with his older sister Krippa, now 3 years old. James and Esther’s eldest, Anand goes to a school in a nearby area.