India’s HIV-infected children live at haven thanks to a man’s ‘happy’ mission

Ravi Kant Bapatle was inspired to set up Happy Indian Village after he witnessed the death of a young HIV-positive orphan

The sanctuary in India’s Maharashtra state is home to about 110 residents including couples who have built their families there

4-MIN READ4-MIN

Ravi Kant Bapatle stands in the farm at Happy Indian Village. Photo: Bhat Burhan

Published: 4:00pm, 17 Feb 2024Updated: 4:18pm, 17 Feb 2024

Dressed in white from head to knee, Ravi Kant Bapatle woke up early to prepare for a recent morning exercise class at a sanctuary in India’s Maharashtra state. Most of the nearly 70 children in his class were not what one would expect to see at a workout, as they have the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Happy Indian Village is home to about 110 residents. Like the children, the adults living in the sanctuary, located in the village of Hasegaon in Latur district, are also HIV-positive. Bapatle has built the sanctuary to help children who faced widespread discrimination due to their infection.

Bapatle, 48, told This Week in Asia that the aim of his exercise class was not just to improve the children’s physical health, but also to raise their morale amid the multiple challenges that they faced daily.

Children at Happy Indian Village learn English and Hindi. Photo: Bhat Burhan

Known affectionately as “Baba” by the residents of the sanctuary, Bapatle has been dedicated to serving those infected with HIV since 2006 after he witnessed the death of a seven-year-old HIV-positive orphan who was abandoned and shunned by the people of his village.

“The death [of that child] shook me to the core. Nobody was willing to perform his last rites. His body had started rotting. With the help of my friends, I performed his last rites,” he recalled.

Before embarking on his life mission, Bapatle was a journalist working with a local Marathi language newspaper, as well as teaching journalism at a local college.

He encountered much opposition over his plan to set up the sanctuary from the locals at Hasegaon after he arrived there in 2007.