Please Do Not Bring AIDS Home

Please Do Not Bring AIDS Home

Written By: Vichheka Sok

“Please do not bring AIDS home, ”cried Vibol. A twelve-year-old boy who had been mad an orphan by AIDS. Vibol lives in the north of Cambodia which far 168 Kilometers from Phnom Penh City. He lived with his mother after his father’s death. His father Sophan passed away after he became infected by HIV and died from AIDS. Vibol shared with sadness, “I miss my father so much. I now live with my great aunt and her 5 children. She is good to me and my younger brother, Virak who is 10 years old.”

Vibol could not stop crying as he told the story.

Not only did he lost his father to AIDS, Vibol also lost his mother who she ran a way without a word. He cried without control, “My brother and I became orphans and are made vulnerable because of AIDS. We have no parents to take care of us. Our mother lived with HIV, and she left us after our father’s death.”

Luckily for both Vibol and Virak, they did not get the HIV virus from their parents.

“Because my father died from AIDS, everyone in my village referred to me as “The one with AIDS”. I was really depressed and discouraged, I did not have many friends and everyone seemed to discriminate against me and my family,” cried Vibol.

Vibol lived with his mother after his father died, but due to living conditions, his mother ran away from home and left Vibol and his brother to live with a very old grandmother. A few years later, the grandmother passed away, so the two brothers were taken in and raised by their great aunty, Bopha who is 35 years old and she earns the income by selling oranges and planting vegetables at home.

Vibol sobbed and shared, “My family’s condition was really bad and the neighbors seemed to hate us so much. We sometimes ate porridge and I had only worn-out clothes to wear. I always try to study hard.”

World Vision came into Vibol’s life in 2006 through the Orphan Vulnerable Children project (OVC). His life gradually changed as he gained more emotional supports along with other forms of support from World Vision. The community people also stop to discriminate against his family, as they understand more about HIV and AIDS and his living conditions.

HIV and AIDS have a devastating affect on Cambodian families. It is usually the case that the father, the main breadwinner, brings the disease home to his wife. Hence the mother, the primary caregiver to children, also dies from AIDS. As the parents’ health deteriorates and eventually results in death, children are left vulnerable and without proper care. Without love and parental guidance the development of children into a healthy and active citizen is compromised.

OVC project of World Vision has seek to improve the capacity of communities to protect children from risk of exploitation and ensure that OVC can access public education, health care, vocational training and so on.

With tears and sobs, Vibol shared, “May all parents take good care of your children. All fathers please do not bring AIDS home.” Adding with grins through tears, “I have many friends now and all villagers stopped discriminate against my family. I am very happy with what have changed in my life. I have enough food to eat now, and I have WV staffs always providing us emotional supports, which is really great for our life. I will try to study hard and I dream to be a teacher because I want to spread my education to other children within the community and they will respect me too. I got a bicycle from World Vision, and I use it to ride to school instead as walking, my school is far from home.”

Vibol and aunty said, “We thank World Vision that has saved our life and everyone stopped discriminate against us. They all understand our condition and support us.”

Vibol is a good boy and he is modest, he works as hard as a girl. His great aunty, Bopha shared, “Vibol is an active boy, and he cooks, washes clothes, cleans house and makes bed every night by himself. He helps to teach his younger brother and cousins how to read and write.”

Note: The child’s name and all names in the story were changed due to it’s a sensitive story and we would like to hide his identity. Child is an OVC, so it’s safe to hide his identity.

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