By Jan-Peter Kelder | Resource development manager
Wong (not real name) is a 18 year-old boy, who will spend the next 10 years in prison and is HIV-infected. A while ago, he felt so depressed that he tried to kill himself. Thankfully, Siam-Care was able to help him.
Wong comes from Nakhom Phanom, a province near Bangkok, where he grew up together with his mother and 2 younger sisters. His father left the house just after his youngest sister was born. He started a new family and hasn't been in touch with Wong or his family for more than 10 years already. Wong's mother makes some money by growing vegetables and selling these at the local market. The family struggled hard to make ends meet and forces by the family's dire financial situation, Wong started selling drugs when he was only 14 years old.
Arrested and sentenced
During his first month as a drug runner, Wong made more than his mother makes in a whole year. He enjoyed his life, had many friends and did not worry about a single thing. Until he was arrested a couple weeks later. One of his clients set him up and called the police. Wong was arrested and sentenced to 12 years in prison. In prison, he underwent a medical test and discovered that he was HIV-infected.
End his life
Wong's world collapsed. He felt depressed after hearing about his condition that he tried to kill himself. Thankfully, the prison staff was able to save Wong and they contacted Siam-Care, as we work with HIV-infected prisoners. Our staff made an emergency visit to prison, as no regular visits were scheduled for that week. We talked with Wong and gave him an idea of was his future could look like. He felt relieved hearing that HIV-infected people can live a pretty normal life, as long as they take their ARV-medication.
Started fighting again
This all happened a couple months ago and Wong is still in prison. There isn't much we can do for him. Just by informing him about his infection and offering him a shoulder to cry on, we gave him some hope. He still doesn't feel too happy as he will be in prison for many more years, but at least he is not fighting again.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
