Holistic Care for 450 HIV Positive Thai Families

Siam-Care is thankful for the many who support our project in different forms; some through this website, others come and give of their time and skills and still others in various ways. The beginning of this year some overseas-volunteers join forces; a retired army officer from The Netherlands, a retired couple from the USA, as well as a retired teacher from the UK, all came to spend time at the Siam-Care project. One of the things they did was upgrade the house and add a toilet for  Mrs Toon and her husband. Mrs Toon has suffered much on behalf of her first husband. After he died rumors quickly went around the village that this must have been due to HIV, he was so thin and sick. At the request of her brother, the head teacher at the local school, Mrs Toon went and had a blood test done which came back HIV positive. No privacy was granted her and soon neighbours knew of her plight and weren't very sympathetic towards her. Mrs Toon's healthy looking 13 year old daughter was allowed to stay in the house but Mrs Toon was asked to leave, ostracized and forced to moved out of her home into the fields. Thankfully she owns these fields and set up a small house, more like a hut, to live in. Over the years Toon has worked hard on the fields, has been able to have an income from her crops and always fresh vegetables to eat. At the local PLWH (People Living With HIV) group she met a nice man whose story was quite similar to hers. They understand each other, can support each other and now form a family. 

In the local village things have changed over the years, a better understanding of living together with those who are HIV positive as well as medication for the sick has meant that the villagers now understand Mrs Toon's plight and accept her back among themselves. However since Mrs Toon's daughter went off to higher education in a nearby province she has decided to stay where she likes living, surrounded by nature and seeing the fruit of her hard work. 

When our retired, full of energy and zeal, volunteers asked what they could do for us we thought of Mrs Toon's house. It needed new walls and roof to keep the rain out and a toilet would be very helpful. Together with the Siam-Care staff as well as Mrs Toon and her husband they set to work and the result makes everyone happy. 

An additional surprise for the family came in the form of a 'Waka solar energy' lamp. Through the Dutch Volunteer Siam-Care received several of these lights which are very simple and at the same time very bright and work just on solar rays, of which Thailand has plenty! We have been able to distribute these lights among some of the very poor families in the Siam-Care project and made many a family happy!

Thank you for your continuing support for the project, it doesn't just bring hope for better physical health but also a better quality of life as people receive these gifts of love through the partnership of Siam-Care with many of you!

Working with HIV infected children brings much joy but also heartbreak. A few weeks ago we lost one of our dearly beloved, almost 16 year old, girls. The year before we celebrated her 15th birthday with a cake  and special gift. This year, Naamprik who was already very sick and resistant to the drugs she was receiving, asked for a camera to take pictures. Through a generous donation we were able to give her this last wish but she wasn't able to enjoy it for long. Now her little sister treasures it as she takes pictures around the house. 

Mother's day is a very important day in Thailand; it falls on the Queen's birthday, August 12th. Naamprik was not able to come to the special celebration as she was in hospital. But she wrote a letter and asked us to read it out during the celebrations. As we read it out not a dry eye or untouches heart was found in the hall. We want to share it with you now:

“I want to tell you how my mother fought for her life so I could have a good example. She loved me so much she wanted to be there for me. 

My mother  looked after me really well from the time I was born. My dad went off to work in Bangkok and so my mother was the only one there for me, my dad never came back to see me once he had left. He just forgot about me. One day when my mother went out to work, she had to work hard so we would have some money and I could go to school, she came back and told me people on the market were not nice to her. They were talking about my dad and were saying he had an other wife.  

My mother didn't believe it, she loved him so much. Long after that he came back to visit me and my mother didn't ask him about the rumor. My dad stayed for 3 days then went back to Bangkok. I begged him not to go back but he told me; 'I have to work so you can have money to go to school'. Those were the last words he said to me. It was the last time I saw my dad.  

My mother had to go out to work so she could support me to go to school. Every day my mother would give me food to take to school, she would bring me to school and watch me until I had to go into the classroom. 

Then we received the news that my father had died. My father had died of a disease he had picked up from this new woman he was with. My mother was devastated. But she still smiled at us and hugged me. We loved each other so much. 

Not long after this my mother became sick. She was working on the farm and was bitten by an ant in the field. Her leg swelled up and she ended up going to the hospital. But her leg didn't improve. The doctor suggested a leg amputation but my mother refused. She said, 'if I have to die I want to die with 2 legs'. She wouldn't let the doctor do the amputation even when she couldn't walk any more and was very sick. I helped look after her, I washed her, I gave her medication, I fanned her down when she was warm and had fever. But her body was giving up, she was so tired and one day she left me. 

After my mother left me; much was going on in my heart. I went to school but didn't want to study, I just wanted to cry. I missed her so much I couldn't explain it. Before, every day when I'd come home  from school I'd sit with her. 

That  last day I sat next to her like always, in the evening I went to sleep and at about 3 am I woke up and saw that people were carrying the body of my mother out of the house. I was so sad! The next week I had to go back to school and it was Mother's day, there were special activities. But I no longer had a mother. But I had to smile, I didn't want others to see my sadness or tears, I didn't want to cry. When I came home I cried on my own, I felt so sorry for myself and for not having a mother. 

But even without a mother I had to go on with life, for my little sister and others. I have to continue to smile because one day I know I will see my mother again. I will always love my mother, she is the light of my life and her teachings lead me in life on the right road. 

I am an orphan but I smile and I fight for life. My mother will always be in my heart.”

Naamprik truly fought and smiled, her body couldn't fight on any longer, she was exhausted. We miss her, she is at peace now and will always be in our heart.