Posted by Karl Morsbach on 1st December 2009
In a recent article, The Spiegel said that “the economical downturn had made the world poorer but not more prudent”. There is hardly any silver lining at the end of the horizon when the banking industry is ready to fall back into old bad habits. Just the same could be said about the world recovering from the worst times of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Did the world become more prudent and did it learn? As soon as there was news of better medical therapies, risky behaviours became apparent once again and infection rates started to increase in many cities.
In General
Baan Gerda has existed now for 10 years. If we are asked to classify this time in different phases then it would be something like this:
Phase 1 - the time of struggle to survive
Phase 2 - the time of growing and thriving
Phase 3 - re-integration into ‘normal’ society
Phase 1 is under control and partly history. It happens only rarely that our children have to be treated in hospital. They are now almost as strong as non-infected children. The analysis of their blood reflects normal immune values.
The Boy Nui
Still, there are children who are who are a source of grave concern. When Nui was brought to Baan Gerda he was already in the advanced stages of AIDS. There was little hope that he would survive. We became more optimistic when his body started to tolerate the aggressive ARV (anti retro viral) medicine and he was able to walk a little without the support of his new brothers and sisters. Nui died suddenly and unexpectedly when everybody in Baan Gerda was having dinner in the main Kinderstern hall.
In recent years, death has been a rare visitor in Baan Gerda and the loss of Nui was hard for us to accept. We told the other kids that the cause of Nui’s death was not HIV related and they should not worry that something similar could happen to them. He would most likely still be living if treatment had been administered earlier.
The baby Tavid
Tavid’s situation was similarly desperate when he joined the Baan Gerda community. His mother had fled from Myanmar to a small boarder village after her husband had died of AIDS. She crossed the border illegally with her three year old daughter and her new born son, Tavid. He was sick with AIDS already when he was born. Not being a Thai citizen he was not entitled to proper treatment.
He eventually arrived in Baan Gerda and was transferred to the ICU of a Bangkok hospital. After staying in the hospital for 2 months, Tavid was then strong enough to be integrated into life in Baan Gerda. For many months however, the weight of Tavid was scarcely more than that of a newly born baby. Now he has put on much weight and he is becoming a ‘normal’ baby. When we get official permission for his mother to travel, she will come to Baan Gerda and the family can be re-united again.