This Grandmother Is Giving A Loving Home To Hundreds Of Abandoned HIV+ Kids

I proudly tell people that I’m a grandmother with 120 children! These children are mostly orphans, abandoned by their distant relatives. It’s my priority to take care of them.

I was born into a middle-class family in Barshi, Solapur district. My parents were farmers, and I spent my childhood reading books by Swami Vivekananda, Baba Amte and Mother Teresa. My mother always encouraged me to read more, and these books influenced me greatly.

When I was 16, I was married off. But I didn’t let that stop me from taking up social work.

Ever since then, I have been helping those in need in any way possible. And I instilled the same values in my daughter, Dimple. I would take her to volunteer at different places to help destitute women and sex workers.

When I was volunteering at a government hospital where they were treating HIV+ patients, I noticed how badly these people were treated. There was so much stigma and discrimination.

I then decided to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS among female sex workers and in small villages around Solapur district.

In 2001, during one of our awareness programs, we found out about 2 babies who were abandoned in a cowshed nearby since they were HIV+. No hospital or NGO was ready to take them in. But I couldn’t leave them alone.

Thus began project Palawi — a home for HIV/AIDS orphan children. What started with just 2 girls has now grown into a safe haven for 125 girls. Here, we give them the love, affection, education, medical care, and legal counsel that they need.

We’ve faced many challenges along the way, but there has not been a single moment where I have doubted our work. This is my life’s mission.

— Mangaltai, Founder, Palawi