The idea of beginning a new ministry among the HIV infected and affected goes back to the year 2000 when Fr. Jyotish IMS was the In-charge Priest of Thorrur mission in the Diocese of Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, India. Moved by the death of a couple within a span of three months, suspected to be with AIDS, orphanizing two children in one of the catholic villages, he conceived the idea of entering into the field of rehabilitation of the HIV/AIDS infected & affected, especially the children.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh being the second prevalent state of AIDS cases in India, the APSACS (A. P. State AIDS Control Society) had decided to start Care & Support Centres in all the districts of Andhra Pradesh and to hand over these centres to the Missionaries who are running a Leprosy or T. B centre(s). This decision of APSACS made it easy for the Lodi Multi Purpose Social Service Society of Warangal Diocese to get the Care & Support Centre Sanctioned in the name of Viswa Karuna Dermatological Centre (VKDC) of Warangal Diocese, which was looking after the Leprosy programme of the Diocese. Since VKDC was finding it difficult to run the centre, LODI took the responsibility of running the centre with the help of Fr. Colombo and they were looking for some missionaries to run the centre. His Excellency Bp. Thumma Bala, the Bishop of Warangal Diocese, proposed to the visiting General Council of the Indian Missionaries Society, Varanasi, India, to take up the Care & Support Centre and agreed to provide the centre with the necessary infrastructure at Karunapuram, which is 13 kms away from Bishop’s house. This gave the vision its content and the necessary impetus to the realization & implementation of the same.
Fr. Jyotish arrived at Karunapuram in August 2002 to plan meticulously and make the necessary repairs & modifications of the infrastructure to facilitate a 15 Bedded Centre to begin with. He also drew contract with Missionaries of Mary Mediatrix (MMM) sisters to look after the nursing care. Implementation of this dream project met with hurdles even in its infancy. The Inauguration of the centre, which was fixed on 1 October 2002, had to be called off due to objections of the people around the Centre. In spite of the protest, the Centre continued to function with the full support of the Local Ordinary. Responding to the dire need of the centre and the increasing number of patients, a new building was constructed and blessed on 23 January 2004 to accommodate 40 patients at a time by the Diocese in order to facilitate better care & service. The Diocese handed over 6 acres of land and all the buildings (registered in the name of the Indian Missionary Society) to The IMS in the same year and agreed to hand over all the funds that come from the Government.
Today Karunalayam is the largest and the best run Centre in Andhra Pradesh, India. Karunalayam has also given trainings to number of Nuns and Nurses in the field of HIV/AIDS Over the years.
JEEVODAYA - CHILDREN'S HOME
Jeevodaya( dawn of life) Care home for the HIV infected and affected children was established in September 2006 to take care of the most vulnerable children in the society. A new home for the boys was opened on 21st August 2011 and a new home for the girls will be opened on 29th of January 2012.
JEEVODAYA NON-FORMAL SCHOOL
Karunalayam opened a non-formal school named Jeevodaya in June 2007 in collaboration since there are no schools close by and the existing schools were reluctant to admit these children as many of them were with skin infection and other contagious sickness. Besides it is noticed that many of these children cannot cope up with the regular curriculum of schools as it was taking a toll in their life. Besides academic matters they are also taught dances and other extra curricular activities.
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To support persons suffering from HIV/AIDS, especially those ostracized by their families and socity.