Holistic Care for 450 HIV Positive Thai Families

Meetang (2019) is a baby who lives with her mother Paer (2002), father Teul (2001) and Great-Grandma in Mukdahan, in Northeast Thailand. Father and mother are HIV positive and Meetang was also infected during pregnancy.

The mother of Teul, so Meetang's grandmother, died when Teul was still young. His father remarried shortly after and broke off contact with his son. Teul was then raised by his grandmother. Due to the absence of his parents, Teul tends to be aggressive and stubborn. He often ran away from home and slept with girls. His girlfriend Paer got pregnant before, but they chose to end it. During the second pregnancy, it turned out that the baby was HIV positive, as both parents refused to take their medication.The hospital referred this family to Siam-Care and now both parents are on medication.

Struggling to make ends meet
The family lives in a small, old and dirty house. Father works as a day laborer and mother takes care of baby Meetang. Grandma is too old and weak to work. The family struggles hard to survive, also because they don't have a family to look after Them and advise them. Siam-Care is now trying to take over that role. Father recently lived in Samut Prakan for a while, an area close to Bangkok and far from Mukdahan. He worked there because he couldn't find a job in Mukdahan. Unfortunately the work stopped and so he is now back in Mukdahan. Financially, the situation remains challenging.

No knowledge of raising a child
Because both parents had a bad upbringing themselves, a lot of knowledge is lacking. Things that are normal for most people are not normal for Paer and Teul. Simply because they never properly learned what is normal. Our employees teach them how to clean their house, which food is healthy and how to raise a child. We also provide the family with clothing for the little Meetang.

Incorrect use of medication
Unfortunately, the parents are not aware that medication is important if you have HIV, so we also do a lot of guidance in that area. Because they regularly forget to take medication or do not take it on set times, the medication does not work well yet. As a result, Meetang falls ill a lot and is regularly admitted to hospital. This is sad, because with proper medication use, this could be prevented. The lack of knowledge breaks up the family, something Siam-Care is trying to change.

We look after many families in need. The Naree family is one of them. Here is their story

Anwiraseenee (2017), who goes by the nickname ‘friendly’, is a 3-year-old girl who is physically disabled. She lives with her mother (1987) and grandmother (1967) in Mukdahan, in the poor and dry northeast of Thailand. Friendly’s father left the family as soon he discovered that his daughter was disabled.

Mother does not have a job, as she needs to take fulltime care of her handicapped daughter. She previously had a good job at the hospital, but had to resign to due to her daughter’s state of being. Friendly’s father has completely abandoned the family and doesn’t support his daughter and ex-wife financially. Hence grandmother is the only one who makes an income. She sells Thai desserts, which are made by mother when Friendly sleeps, but her income is not steady. During the rainy season, she hardly has any customers. The family struggles hard to make ends meet.

Simple but steady house
Friendly and her mother and grandmother live in a house made out of cement and wood. Upstairs is the main living area, but mother and Friendly stay downstairs, as it would be difficult and perhaps dangerous to carry Friendly up and down the whole time. Friendly has been disabled since her birth. She isn’t able to sit, walk, let alone take care of herself. She will grow and develop herself much slower than other children. 

Thanks to the support of people like you, we can lool after this family. We much appreciate your support and cannot go without!