They are the handprints of a child living with full-blown acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Thandu and the 20 other children she lives with in a small house at 51 Charles St., Glendonald, Meyerton, Gauteng, South Africa, have created artwork that will be in a show that opens Oct. 12 and runs through November at Carrboro Town Hall and the Carrboro Century Center. Receptions are scheduled for Oct. 12, 6-9 p.m., and Nov. 9, 6-9 p.m.

These endearing childhood creations are colorful and joyous. And they are for sale. The money raised from their sale, and from any donations made during the show, will go to Emma Van der Merwe, who in 2003 founded Doulos Ministries to help her take care of these children.

Van der Merwe’s mother died of AIDS in 1997. When people learned what she had died from, Van der Merwe’s family faced rejection. Rather than turn away from this scorn and the pain of being stigmatized, she opened up her heart and her home to children born with HIV who have been orphaned or abandoned as they became too much of a burden to their families.

Van der Merwe and I have been e-mailing each other for a few weeks. I want to share two parts of her story in her own words:

“The children come to me through the hospitals and our child welfare system. Sometimes a granny is looking after her grandchildren and cannot cope as she has to work and she cannot get the child to a doctor, as it is a big responsibility to look after a very sick child. She will come to me and I will assist her. Normally, if the family members find out that the child is infected the child will be put in a back room, just left to die. I have a few of these children who have just been left in back rooms or they will leave the child to care for themselves. One of my children, little Jennifer, who has been with me for three years now, was sick and left in a shack to care for herself. Jennifer is now nine and still very ill and also in heart failure. This is a big problem in South Africa, the stigma is killing our children.”

Van der Merwe said that many people in her community still believe they can become infected merely by talking to someone infected with HIV. Consequently, the community tends to shun anyone who is known to have virus.

According to a December 2006 report by the World Health Organization, at the end of 2005 there were an estimated 240,000 children aged 14 and under living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa. The adult population with the virus was estimated at 5.5 million. The estimated population of South Africa, again according to the WHO, is 47.4 million.

More from Van der Merwe:

“When I wake up in the morning and open my bedroom door and I have all these children running to say hello to have a hug, I just look into their little eyes and see light. Then I just say to myself they need me I have to move forward in making their home a better place, a place of love and hope. Doulos has been through difficult times. I will never give up on these precious children. Love is a small word but yet it is so difficult for people to love and these children have taught me what love is all about.”

The person responsible for bringing the art of Emma’s Kids to the attention of the Carrboro Art Committee is Shawn Eller, a trooper with the North Carolina Highway Patrol who works mostly out of Raleigh. In 2004, Eller and two friends traveled to South Africa to do mission work, drawn to that region by a missionary friend already doing work there.

“We were moved by the amount of homeless children there,” Eller said.

Eller’s missionary friend in South Africa told him about Van der Merwe’s efforts. After Eller returned home, he began corresponding with her by e-mail. He was so moved by her story that he and his family began contributing money to help the children in Van der Merwe’s care.

“But I wanted to do more, so I started a little ministry called the Kings Orphans,” said Eller, who kept thinking, inspired by a story in the New Testament, “If these were my children, what would I not do for them?”

Eller began speaking about Emma’s Kids to any organization that would listen. In August 2006 Van der Merwe traveled to North Carolina and, following Eller’s suggestion, brought some artwork her children had done.

Looking for venues in which to show the children’s art as a way to make a connection between people here and the children in South Africa, Eller heard that Carrboro might be receptive.

Sharmin Mirman, who works for the Town of Carrboro and is a member of the Carrboro Arts Committee, was at a committee meeting as the staff liaison person for the town when Eller and Van der Merwe spoke about their desire to share the children’s art. Mirman was profoundly moved.

“We were told it is cheaper to let these children die than get them the drugs they need,” she said.

The Art Committee took on the task of organizing the show. The operation is entirely funded by donations.

“Anything at all to improve their quality of life is a contribution worth making,” Mirman said.

To see photos of the children, go to www.carrboro.com/emmaskids. The Century Center, 100 N. Greensboro St., is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and the Carrboro Town Hall, 301 W. Main Street, is open Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

Eller will be at the Century Center reception this month and the Carrboro Town Hall reception in November to share his experiences with Emma’s Kids. He told me that anyone who might want to go and meet the kids is welcome to join him on his next trip.

Doulos Ministries has raised the funds, entirely through donations, to build a new care center. Donated money from the art show will go to purchase hospital cots and beds, and medical equipment like oxygen and suction machines.

If you can’t make it to the show but want to donate, send a check made out to Kings Orphans to at P.O. Box 3866, Buies Creek, N.C. 27506. Eller said he is happy to give a talk about the children and can be contacted at (910) 893-3343 or (919) 291-2636.

If you come by the show or send a donation and have some finger paints, put your handprints on paper for the children to have. Thandu and her housemates will see in an instant that ours don’t look all that different from their own.