HIV Awareness raising in prisons and communities

Siam-Care often gives volunteers the opportunity to join their prison visits. Last month Mariet from the Netherlands came with Siam-Care to the Women's correctional institution of Pathum Thani. This is her story.

Imagine: you are in prison, you are HIV infected and because of that you are bullied, ignored. I don't think I would have been able to think positive about myself and my future.

My name is Mariët and I work as a volunteer for Siam-Care. Over the last couple of weeks I have seen how Siam-Care really cares (it's in the name) about people in a bad situation, like the HIV-infected prisoners. And how Siam-Care teaches about positive thinking in such dire situations.

Impressive results of 1 training
I've seen how Siam-Care in 1,5 hours teached 17 HIV-infected women in prison how to think and act positive. After the training the women told one by one what they had learned. It was amazing to hear their answers, I was quite impressed by what Siam-Care had achieved in such a short period. Wht the women shared? Here are some of their answers: 
- I've learned how to transform my negative thoughts  into positive thoughts.
- I've learned that I have a negative self image and that my negatieve thoughts subsequently cause negative actions as well.
- After the training I know that I'm not the only one in this situation, I've made new friends.
- I now challenge myself to think in a positive way about my future
- When I'm alone it's easy to have low self esteem and a negative self image, but now I understand the impact of my thoughts  on my feelings. I will try to change my wat of thinking so that I will feel better.

Bring hope together
If it wasn't for Siam-Care, nobody would tell the inmates that they are precious and valuable. Valuable enough to have a positive self image. Without Siam-Care nobody would teach the women how to have positive thoughts. And they wouldn't gather and make new friends. I hope you are touched by these women and the work that Siam-Care does among them. Thank you for making this possible by donating to this project. Together we can bring hope to people without hope.