Fourteen AIDS orphans merrily joined other teenagers in playing and visiting key spots in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan Province. They were just kids, doing kid-things, with no bias.
The only difference: Their parents had died of AIDS.
It was a fitting observation for World AIDS Day yesterday, and China has been trying to reduce the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS and to AIDS orphans. Many orphans are not infected.
Organized by Sunlight Homeland in Xingzhuang Township, Weishi County, the orphans' tour is part of the province's efforts to prevent AIDS orphans from being marginalized.
By September 30, the number of people living with the HIV virus, most of whom had been infected by illegal blood transfusions, had totaled 30,387; of them, 18,334 had developed into AIDS patients and 4,294 died of the disease.
According to Wang Jumei, deputy governor of Henan, there are 1,634 children who have been orphaned by AIDS in Henan.
Yang Wentao, a senior official with the Civil Affairs Bureau of Henan Province, said Sunlight Homeland was greatly helping orphans left behind by AIDS-infected parents.
So far, the province has built more than 20 Sunlight Homelands with special allocations from the government budgets. Each Sunlight Homeland has teaching staff and other helpers, and each child receives a monthly subsidy of 160 yuan (US$19.7).
"While ensuring these orphans have enough to eat and wear, we pay great attention to their psychological health," said Yang.
(Xinhua)