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We are visiting today to conduct a comprehensive assessment of Hanh’s health and wellbeing using a detailed HIV checklist developed by one of VNHIP’s professional medical volunteers.
This checklist helps us to better understand the specific needs of each family we work with so we can best support their children who are living with HIV.
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Our visit attracts the interest of a supportive group of neighbours, who crowd into the doorway of the small house to watch the process.
Hanh, 8, has lived with her 80 year old Grandma all her life, not atypical here in Viet Nam where extended families are still the rule rather than the exception. What is less usual is that Hanh has HIV.
VNHIP first met Hanh in 2010 when she was four years old. The family was referred to us by the clinic in Tam Ky(one hour south of Hoi An). During a routine clinic visit, Hanh and both of her parents were discovered to be carriers of the HIV virus, and it is surmised that Hanh contracted the virus at birth.
Hanh’s mother was already in declining health,
and died a year later. Her father
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was devastated – by the loss of his wife and the knowledge that both he and Hanh had also contracted HIV. We were very worried about how this would affect Hanh and kept in close contact with the family to help them through this difficult time. Hanh.s father went on to find a new partner after his wife's death, and now lives separately from Hanh. As is often the case in Vietnam, where there is no mandated child support system, Hanh and her granny receive only token support from her father and his new family.
Hanh takes the local bus with her grandmother once a month to the Tam Ky clinic for treatment. The Vietnamese government makes antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of HIV available free of charge, and both Hanh and her father have been receiving treatment since their diagnosis but even free treatment can be prohibitive for those who can’t afford to get to a clinic. For a poor family like Hanh’s, it is expensive to get there and takes all day. VNHIP supports Hanh by compensating her grandmother’s lost income and covering their travel expenses so that she can receive ongoing treatment.
In addition to contributing financing for Hahn’s medical expenses, VNHIP is also committed to identifying other areas of need hence our assessment this day. Our conversation with the family reveals that Hanh and her grandmother have routinely walked to and from the local school. An appeal following this visit secured the generous contribution of a fine ‘dusty pink’ bicycle by one of our wonderful volunteers which has already made life a little easier for them, and we have recently been offered an additional child’s bicycle for Hanh to ride.
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Our assessment shows us that Hanh and her grandma's
simple two-bedroom home is orderly, but Spartan.
In Hanh’s room, clothes hang neatly from some twine stretched along the wall, a bright yellow sun hat and a ‘barbie’ backpack hang from hooks above the bamboo bed frame.
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The floor is polished cement. There is a kitchen – a simple affair with a gas cooker. Outside the back door stands a large stone water container. A concrete platform serves as a bathroom/laundry.
The one huge deficiency in the house is the total lack of a functioning toilet. Hanh and her grandmother currently rely on a hole dug in the woods for their commode. Arduous at the best of times, this method is made inaccessible during the upcoming rainy season when many homes become marooned, and surrounding land submerged.
Our visit completed, we compare notes. Our conclusion is that we have made strides in addressing many of the needs of the family – but feel that the most important contribution we could make – a contribution that would immediately improve the quality of life for Hahn and her grandmother - would be the construction of a decent toilet. Our estimate of the cost for a simple sanitary facility is $500. Can you help us reach this modest goal?
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