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St.Camillus
Foundation of
"Garden
of Eden"
(July 2002)
Executive
Summary
Project
Title:
Garden of Eden (paradiso
terrestre)
Project
Holder: Camillian
Social Centre Rayong (CSC), under
St.Camillus
Foundation of
Contact
Person: Fr.
Postal
Address: 1/1
Soi Kiri, Huay Pong,
Tel.
(038) 685480, 691480
Fax.
(038) 687480
E-mail
cscrayon@loxinfo.co.th
Situation
Rayong
is a province in the eastern region of Thailand with the highest number of AIDS
patients and people having HIV, and ranks the third of the country. Rayong
records a dead toll of 1,047 and 3,997 AIDS patients from September 1984 to
November 1999. It records the ratio of 70.68 AIDS patients per a hundred
thousand people in 1999, while the highest is in 1996 at 155.67, the lowest in
1999, and in the previous year the figure is well over 139.36.
The
Ministry of Public Health estimated that 984,000 people all across the country
have infected HIV since the first AIDS patient was found. Among them, 289,000
died and 695,000 are currently living with HIV and AIDS. Among the infected,
55,000 will develop serious AIDS related complex this year, requiring medical
care. Approximately the same number will die of AIDS. It is also estimated that
29,000 new infections would occur this year. Half of these are women who got the
virus from their husbands or sex partners. A quarter would be infected from drug
use, one fifth among sex workers and their clients, and 4,000 are children. This
fact highlights the country three important areas, prevention of infection,
reduction of HIV transmission from mother to child and care of AIDS patients.
However,
due to financial and economic crisis attacking the country since 1997, the
government is not in a position to initiate interventions in all the above
important areas. It needs co-operation and assistance from the private sector.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION
Background and
Rationale
AIDS in
The largest
group of people with HIV are those aged 25-29 years. The largest group by
profession infected with the virus is young employees and factory workers. The
main risk factor in the same period is sexual relationships. The region with the
highest rate of infection is the North.
Rayong is a
province with the highest number of people with HIV/AIDS in the east and the
third in the country. It records a death toll of 1,047 and 3,997 AIDS patients.
The highest infection rate is found in intravenous drug users and direct
prostitutes. Over half of the former and one third of direct sex workers were
found HIV positive in June 1997. In some villages, all members are infected with
the virus.
Most of them
were young people.
The present Thai
society sees an ever-increasing number of people infected with AIDS. This
disease has now reached its entire cycle of infection having entered the family
environment. Most children at the age of 5-12 years whose mothers have HIV and
are still alive in 2000 will be orphans within the next two years.
It is estimated
that the number of orphans whose parents died of AIDS and were younger than five
years old in 1999 is 7,071, while there were only 51 in 1990, and this number
continues to rise year after year.
The accumulated
number of orphans under 12 in 1999 is 59,045. There are over 300,000 children
under 12 whose mothers have HIV while both the children and their mothers are
still alive.
Thai government
is developing tactics and strategies to provide knowledge on risk behavior and
to promote positive attitudes towards people with HIV/AIDS. It also promotes
research and development especially on AIDS vaccines.
In Rayong,
public health organizations provide medical care for AIDS patients who have
complications and for people living with HIV. Other state agencies concentrate
on prevention with workers and local communities. However, its resources, be
they human, material and financial, are not enough to cope with this alarming
and worsening problem. It is even worse when the country is attacked by
financial and economic crises.
Children are
victims of this AIDS infection and have posed serious problems on society.
Children infected with HIV were orphaned when their fathers and mothers died of
AIDS. Their relatives could not take care of them, while many others are
reluctant or refuse to take care of them. Therefore, they do not have any one to
take care of them. They do not have an opportunity to get an education. They
lack love and warmth from their natural families. If these children grow up,
they will certainly pose critical problems on society.
The Thai
government does not have any clear policy or action on this issue whether to
leave these children with their relatives or parents. If they do not have
anywhere to go, what they will do, especially when they have the virus. They
cannot just walk into an orphanage because they will certainly be rejected. NGOs
taking care of orphans do not accept these HIV orphans because they do not know
how to take care of children with a specific condition like this. Most of them
prefer to follow a policy of leaving children with HIV/AIDS with their families.
The number of
people with symptomatic HIV from 1984 to
The Ministry of
Public Health estimated the number of orphans less than five years of age in
1999 at 7,071. It estimated that there were only 51 orphans in 1990 whose
parents died of AIDS and the number continued to rise year after year. The
accumulated number of orphans as of 1999 is 21,321. For orphans below 12, the
accumulated number in 1999 is 59,045. There are over 300,000 children under 12
whose mothers have HIV while both the children and their mothers are still
alive. Most children at the age of 5-12 years whose mothers have HIV and are
still alive in the year 2000 will be orphans by the next two years.
The Project
Holder: Camillian Social Centre Rayong
Camillian Social
Centre (CSC) has officially been opened on
prevention
training focuses on providing a knowledge and understanding of HIV/AIDS,
communication skills, risk factors and behaviors, and how to prevent themselves
from infection. Due to the serious problem of HIV infection, orphans who have
lost their parents because of AIDS and also infected with the virus are referred
to CSC because they are abandoned. Some of them are children of AIDS patients
living in CSC. It accepts these children so that they will be able to live with
their parents until their last day. This is one way to promote a family
atmosphere, which is helpful for the psychological well being of the children.
A childcare
centre has been set up to accommodate and care for children whose parents died
of AIDS. The front building of the centre serves as an accommodation and
classrooms for AIDS orphans. The work with children living with HIV, whose
parents have died of AIDS or are staying at CSC, started in May 1998. It was
officially been opened with a religious ceremony in November 1999.
Land and
Location
A good-hearted
Catholic living in Rayong has donated 18.000 square meters of land. The land is
situated at Bankrai district, about 17 km from Rayong municipality area, is near
a canal and 100 meter away from the main road.
The land has
been given to the St. Camillus foundation of
Preparation of
land is necessary because a part of it is wild forest.
Construction
of a Center
Five houses,
each divided in two units will occupy the land. Every unit can accommodate two
or three people. All the houses will have facilities for daily activities
outside but under the same roof (manual work, laundry, small meals, toilet,
equipment) and for resting inside, is important to keep the inner site clean and
quiet with good ventilation to avoid TB infection.
The houses will
be situated in different corners and in the middle there will be a multi-purpose
construction, where there will be a common room, a store and space for playing
and meeting purposes. The size of each unit will be 7X5 meters, one house 14X10
meters, plus a balcony in front and back of each unit.
The cost of each
unit is estimated to be approximately 170.000 Baht.
The central
building will provide opportunities for community life without disturbing people
in the houses. The size of the central building will be a rectangle of 200
square meters. The cost is approximately 120.000 Baht.
Objectives
To build a
good family atmosphere for HIV adults and children able to take care of
themselves in a good and healthy atmosphere
To help mothers and children who are powerless and unprotected to
have security in life and enable them to live a normal life.
To provide education for the children at the center so that they
will obtain necessary knowledge to lead their life when they grow up.
To motivate families and society to be aware of the significance of the adverse effects on families, children and youth from behavior that risks HIV infection.
Target Groups
A group of 30 to
35 people, mothers with children or poor homeless and discriminated families
from the southeast region of
The target group
are people still in good physical condition able to take care of themselves or
at least of their basic needs, are usually in the ARC complex stage, in need of
getting cure for opportunistic infections. These people can live in good
condition for years.
Activities
Community
life style; meals together, in a family environment and regular weekly
meetings.
Vegetable
gardening, breeding small animals and fishing.
Cleaning
houses and the surrounded area, preparing food.
Care of
the children, sending them to school and giving assistance at home.
Work
outside in the nearby factories.
Maintenance
of the houses and public facilities.
Daily physical exercise.
1.Outings