August 17, 1999
We care Positive action A group of people with HIV and Aids are working to support others with the deadly virus-and are spreading the safe sex message to save others from the same fate Ukrit Kungsawanich After finding out she was HIV positive, Mrs Malee (not her real name) tried to end her life with a drug overdose. She had no one to turn to, and at the time it seemed like her only option. But a doctor saved her and the first thing she saw when she awoke was her daughter sobbing by her hospital bed. "My child's tears hurt me deeply. I promised I would never hurt her again. And that I would fight the disease until my last breath," she said. An Aids orphan, who himself suffers with the deadly HIV virus, is cared for by his grandmother. With little cash -- or know-how about looking after the sick child -- the SaengSong Jai volunteers offer the elderly lady practical and emotional support. Mrs Malee also promised herself that she would do whatever she could to help people with HIV or Aids to cope with their illness, instead of having them live in tormented silence or attempting suicide. She is now one of 20 volunteers at the Burapha House in Chon Buri province. Run by Pearl S. Buck, a non-profit organisation, the social workers and volunteers offer counselling, home visits, and the essentials of daily life for people with HIV/Aids as well as prevention education for high-risk groups in the east coast provinces. The volunteers, all HIV-positive, call their group Saeng Song Jai, meaning a light for the mind. "There are so many people out there with HIV and they have no one to turn to. They need someone who shares the same fate to tell them where to go," said one of the volunteers who helps man Aidsline-(038) 278-545-a counselling hotline. Chon Buri and other eastern coastal provinces are home to many migrant workers, both legal and illegal. Yowalak (Thiarachow) Tatichotipan, country director of Pearl S. Buck International (Thailand), said this highly mobile population, plus widespread unsafe sex practices, make the region an Aids time bomb. On top of this is strong prejudice against those with HIV and Aids which makes it difficult for people with the virus to get help. When Saeng Song Jai was set up, the volunteers founded a hotline knowing that people with the virus so often need somewhere to turn where people really understand their fears. Like the social workers, the volunteers at the Burapha House start early. Apart from offering counselling and the hotline, Burapha House also sponsors children whose parents have HIV with scholarships and other basic needs like rice and milk. Set up in Thailand in 1967, Pearl S. Buck is better known for its philanthropic work with abandoned Amerasian war children. However, with the Aids crisis in Thailand the organisation has expanded its work to help the Aids orphans and their families. Chanida Liangthorachon of Pearl S. Buck said: "Children of Aids patients are the most vulnerable group. Many companies will fire employees who are HIV-positive the second they find out. Without a decent income, parents are forced to take their children out of school."The financial tensions can often find expression in physical anger and domestic violence, and many children whose parents have Aids face discrimination at school. "I can't tell my friends or they will start calling me names," said Kai (not her real name). Mrs Yowalak said: "These children are torn between the fear of being in school and that of being separated from their parents. They need our help."And when children are orphaned some have loving relatives to take care of them, but many others are not so lucky and find themselves very isolated and the target of discrimination. In these cases the volunteers try to give the children the extra support they need. The Saeng Song Jai volunteers also organise a monthly meeting at which families affected by HIV can share their experiences and feelings. "The group make me feel I am not alone fighting this disease," said one member. Like Malee, half the volunteers had tried to end their lives. Their first-hand pain enables them to understand what other people with the deadly virus thing and feel. With assistance from the volunteers, Burapha House also provides home-based care for Aids patients who can no longer help themselves. The social workers and volunteers also teach family members basic nursing skills and sanitary procedures so they can take care of the patients at home themselves. The team will then visit patients every week to give them morale support as well as to help provide basic items. "There is a case where a sister put her own brother who had HIV outside the front door on the street. We have to educate the family that HIV is not airborne nor is it easy to become infected with the virus," a volunteer said. One of the home visits takes the Burapha House team to a small wooden hut in the middle of nowhere. There sits an old woman with her painfully thin grandson asleep beside her. The child became infected with the HIV virus during delivery. Not knowing how long he will live, the grandmother tries her best to take care of him. Social worker Patcharin Somvadee said after the boy's mother died there was only his grandma to care for him, and she had no income. "When we found out, we tried our best to help with both financial and moral support. There are many similar cases in this region," she said. Even as the day draws to a close, the team's tasks are far from over. After home visits, they head towards the port of Samae Sarn to give safe-sex education to migrant workers there. When darkness falls, many of the fishermen head to the small bars and restaurants-and sometimes the brothels. Night-time safe sex education lessons for Cambodian fishermen at Samae Sarn. -Somkid Chaijitvanit Safe-sex education for this high-risk group is important since many such people don't understand the deadly consequences of Aids, or have had the opportunity to learn how to protect themselves. Having unprotected sex means the fishermen-many of whom are illegal migrant workers from Cambodia-become infected, and return home to unknowingly spread the virus across the border. The Burapha House team conduct their safe-sex education campaign often with a translator. And the posters and hand-outs are written in the foreign workers' mother tongues. Spreading the safe-sex message includes explaining about using condoms correctly. At around midnight the day finally ends for the Burapha House team, but the work continues the following day. Mrs Yowalak said Pearl S. Buck wants to expand its work into Rayong, Chanthaburi, and Trat. "The provinces along the borders are the most dangerous places for the virus to be spread. While illegal migrants cross the border, work here and then carry the virus out, Thais also go to Cambodia for cheap prostitution and bring the virus in."While the spread of the virus seems impossible to control, the Saeng Song Jai volunteers and social workers at Burapha House continue to fight against the odds to take control of their lives. "I couldn't have made it this far without help from the foundation," said an HIV-positive mother. "I don't know how long I will live, but I will go on working to help others have the will to live. "My only wish is that I live long enough to see my daughter finish college. I have no worries after that." Info for donations Name of organisation: Pearl S. Buck International (Thailand) Contact person: Yowalak(Thiarachow) Tatichotioan. Address: 6th Floor, Interlife John Hancock Bldg., 364/30 SriAyudhaya Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok, 10400 Tel: 642-6357-8 Fax: 642-6359 Bank information: Thai Farmers Bank, Pratu Nam Pathumwan Branch, savings account number 005-2-50467-8; account name: Pearl S. Buck Foundation (Main). Or send a cheque payable to Post Publishing Public Company Limited (for Pearl S. Buck) to Kusuma Mintakhin, Editorial Manager, 136 Na Ranong Road, off Suthorn Kosa, Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110. Her telephone number is 240-3700 ext 3224-5. Please include your name and address so we can send you a receipt. *"We Care" is a weekly series honouring people who believe in giving. Apart from supporting these causes, you can also let us know about people whounselfishly help others so we can make more people aware of their efforts. Fax "We Care" on 240-3668 or call 240-3700 ext 3208 or 3212.		Current Issues in Thailand Bangkok Post Year-end Economic Review NEW! SEA Games news archive! 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