Click here to view the Photo Gallery of the visit to Sparrow Rainbow Village

CARLTON players came face-to-face with the harsh realities of life when they visited an HIV clinic as part of their AFL Community Camp in South Africa.

The Blues saw how trivial sport is when opposed to life and death – which is what they faced at their first stop on Thursday.

The morning’s tour of the Sparrow Rainbow Village was confronting for Carlton players and officials.

As nurse Rose Ledwabe – who earlier in the day had attended the funeral of a village member – told the group: “If somebody passes on, somebody is already at the gates,” she said.

Ledwabe attends as many as eight funerals in a week.

The facility, home to 240 children and more than 90 adults, is the largest HIV/AIDS village in South Africa.

At Sparrow, Carlton saw dozens and dozens of children, many of them toddlers, infected with the HIV virus.

The Blues were split into three groups, with each given a brief run-down on HIV/AIDS, a tour of the facility and a special ‘play’ with some of the village’s younger residents.

“It’s a bit of an eye-opener … it’s something we don’t really have to deal with in Australia,” Carlton’s Jarrad Waite said.

“It really opens your eyes to realise that we’ve got it so well back home.”

The children welcomed the strangers who had come to pay them a visit and kick an odd-shaped football with them, although some appeared as though they didn’t have the energy to do so.

After eating their lunch, the children thanked the Blues for their visit by singing three songs, and Carlton players and officials responded by handing out flags that read ‘Go Blues’.

Later in the afternoon Carlton later met up with the Indigenous Youth Team – in the country to play three matches against a South African under-19 side, including the curtain-raiser to Saturday’s exhibition game against Fremantle – to launch Australian football in Alexandra.

While most players just stuck around for the clinic, a few also went for a wander through one of Johannesburg’s toughest suburbs.

The Blues’ big day concluded with a reception at the Australian High Commissioner’s house in Pretoria.

There they came toe-to-toe with Fremantle, who also attended the function. Freo had also visited an HIV clinic earlier in the day.

While AFL matches leave players exhausted physically and mentally, nothing could have prepared these players for what they encountered on Thursday.