UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS

May 1, 2008

Symbol of Love

Not long ago, I was invited to join a gathering in Vientiane of families affected by HIV and AIDS as well as activists. It was the first time the two groups of people–many, living with HIV–met for social purposes. Among the participants, I saw a young boy sitting beside an old man. I hadn’t seen the grandfather and nephew for some time already. Grandfather Boune Pan is a 75 years old man and a care taker of his twelve year-old nephew, Thavatsay, who is HIV-positive.

Thavatsay now lives with his grandparents in a village in Vientiane’s capital. Both grandparents are in their seventies. Thavatsay is too young to remember his parents. AIDS took the lives of both his parents: his father died when Thavatsay was only one year old whilst his mother died five years later.

Thavatsay’s father was from Thailand and came to Laos to work as a manager at a garment factory. This is where he met Thavasay’s mother, a girl twenty years younger than him. At that time, Thavatsay’ mother had just finished lower secondary school and decided to drop out of school. She went to work in the garment factory in order to earn money to support her family. It was at the factory that the young Lao girl and the Thai manager fell in love and got married. Thavatsay was the symbol of their love.

Thavatsay is currently studying in grade 3 but his friends are in grade 4. However his grandparents are very proud that he reached third grade. Thavatsay repeated grade one twice due to the fact that he often missed classes which affected his studies. The reason for Thavatsay’s many absences was his having to travel for regular health check ups to the hospital in Savannakhet province, which, at that time, was the only place in the country where local expertise could be found for HIV and AIDS treatment. This was not an easy trip for Thavatsay and his grandparents. They had to travel more than 500 km from Vientiane’s capital down south to Savannakhet Province. Thavatsay did not know the reasons why he had to make the journey to the hospital. Sometimes, he refused to go to the hospital. His grandparents had to plead and coax Thavatsay. In the end, both grandparents had to make the trip with him.

Thavatsay and his grandparents usually traveled by bus at night and arrived early the next morning in Savannakhet. Upon arrival, they went immediately to see the doctor. After receiving medical care, the three would travel back to Vientiane.

Now Thavatsay and other people living with HIV and AIDS from the northern and central provinces, do not have to travel to Savannakhet for treatment. HIV and AIDS treatment and care services have expanded to Vientiane. The new treatment site has made the travel days shorter and far less expensive. UNICEF continues to provide travel costs and daily allowance for needy families and care takers from the provinces. Grandfather Boune Pan told me that he is happy that Thavatsay will not miss class any more and have sufficient time to both study and play. However, there are still many people who are struggling with the issue of accessing treatment due to the country’s limited services. This is an area where UNICEF will need to further advocate for the expansion of services to ensure all people living with HIV and AIDS can access quality treatment and care services.