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Photo: USAID/Suzanne Ross

This Bangkok family says that USAID assistance has helped them maintain self respect and no longer be a financial or social burden to their communities. “The [home care] visits motivate me to get up and do things. Now I am helping my family,” said the husband.

The parents of this Bangkok family of five tested positive for HIV last year. The illness compromised their livelihoods, while their young children, who had no access to public schools, had to fend for themselves.

Although treatment can alleviate the effects of HIV/AIDS, poverty and social stigmas can seriously undermine even medical miracles. In Thailand, USAID is using a novel approach to reduce prejudice against HIV-infected people and alleviate poverty among HIV-affected households. In addition to offering antiretroviral treatment, the Positive Partnership program’s integrated approach has improved many people’s ability to manage the disease, generate income and maintain family responsibilities.

In an effort to create understanding among adults, Positive Partnerships matches people who have HIV with non-infected people, provides them with vocational training and helps them start small businesses together. USAID also supports homebased care to 400 HIV-positive residents of Bangkok’s slums.

To reduce the stigma against children in educational settings, Positive Partnerships provides community counseling and scholarships that benefit more than 4,000 HIV-affected preschoolers. Hospices provide care, counseling and vocational training for families, enabling more than 200 children — including the three pictured here — to attend school and develop skills that will protect them from exploitation.

These Bangkok parents say they are grateful for USAID’s assistance, which has helped them maintain self respect and no longer be a financial or social burden to their communities. Their neighbors say they are less afraid to help them now that they know more about HIV/AIDS, and the children say they live in a happier home because their parents are well and they can go back to school.

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