If I kept it to myself - World YWCA

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If I kept it to myself infections and providing information about Antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. The medical staff also supports us with medical check-ups, ARV treatment, providing information related to HIV and AIDS treatment and introducing support services. This support group also involves sharing experiences with other mothers and solving conflicts between women living with HIV and their families. In this way, mothers are able to participate in social activities and speak out in the community to fight stigma and discrimination among people living with HIV and AIDS. I have also been instrumental in mobilising husbands to support their wives, and in convincing health care workers to provide ARV medication for fathers who were drug users. I told them my story and how my husband and I were infected. I also agreed that if only the wife receives ARV medicine, she will share it with her husband. This is not a good way for treatment adherence, but it’s done because the wife does not have the heart to see her husband without medicine. We should therefore encourage husbands, by providing medicine and opportunities, to take part in activities relating to HIV and AIDS. Many have joined the support group and they attend some activities such as speaking with the community, and participating in the nutritional training courses. Together with my friends from the Sunflower support group, I distribute clean syringes and needles, and collect dirty ones as part of our efforts to reduce harm. This year, we received funding from PEPFAR, which does not allow us to distribute clean needles or talk about condoms to those under 15. Now, we are working with the District Health Centre to send two members of Sunflower to collect used needles and syringes. We also distribute condoms and host awareness raising activities to reduce the transmission of HIV in the community. We attended the Innovation day held by AusAid in Hanoi, and presented our project with the theme: “The things I wish to tell you” - Fighting stigma and shame against HIV positive mothers and their children in Dong Da, Hanoi. We also participated in the «Warm hug day» programme organised by FHI and the Hanoi health on November 31, 2004, where members of the Sunflower group spoke openly on living positively with HIV and AIDS. I take part in workshops organized by Care, Policy, FHI and share information and experience in communicating on HIV and AIDS. In February 2005, I attended a workshop at the Press Club, Hanoi, organized by UNAIDS and Policy and where the host was the National Women’s Union. This workshop was to introduce a new magazine and documents about fighting stigma and discrimination with PLWHA. Although I did not do a presentation at this workshop I had an opportunity to meet with influential people as an HIV infected person. I also visit members to help them prepare their applications (i.e. business plan, etc) for a loan for income generating activities. The first time I participated in these activities, I felt hesitant. However, thanks to the encouragement and support from project staff and friends I overcame my inferiority complex of the “disease”. What makes me feel excited while 86
Young women intervene in a world with AIDS doing the job is that I am still the same person – optimistic and happy. Many people stand by to share, encourage and support me when I have to cope with challenges. This is a small job but it brings happiness to a lot of people. What makes me happiest is that I am still a productive person in society. For almost two years now, I have been the leader of the Sunflower group. I manage, plan and coordinate activities of the support group, and liaise between the support group, project staff, the government and other organisations. I have a lot of difficulty working with communities and households as the majority still stigmatise HIV positive people. Sometimes I go to houses of HIV positive people with influential people to talk with their family, and guide them about how to best support and care for their HIV positive loved ones, and how to avoid becoming infected themselves. I invited staff from the Red Cross and the Women’s Union to the house of a group member who was successful in her income generating activities. The purpose of this visit was to observe and appraise a successful method of income generating in order to introduce and support other group members in the same activity. I brought the opinion of HIV positive people to the draft Amendment of the Ordinance on the Rights of People Living with HIV and AIDS and I also attended international organisations’ meetings representing the Sunflower group. I have also had a lot of discussions and coordinated with the management of hospitals to set up referral systems between support groups, communities, the hospital and other support organisations. I am now working as a core member of the Sunflower group in the field of counselling and am coordinating a project, funded by Medical Committee Netherlands Vietnam, known as the Community based comprehensive care for HIV positive mothers and newborns, in the Dong Da District, Hanoi, Vietnam. Born: 1972 Country: Vietnam Organisations: Mother to mother support, Sunflower Campaigns for: assistance to and mobilisation of mothers 87
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If I kept it to myself - World YWCA

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