A letter from Brett and Shelly Faucett in Thailand
August 7, 2008
Interfaith Pre-Conference
HIV/AIDS is a critical challenge for religious communities and demands our concern and commitment now more than ever. It is not only a health crisis, but a dilemma that affects basic human dignity and rights, including the right to live, the right to be healthy, and the right to have access to public services.
Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian participants awaiting to start the conference with a prayer from each religion.
Children are a vulnerable part of society who have little input in their own lives. Religious leaders are in the position to make a serious impact in the lives of children. Every day, approximately 1,800 children under 15 are infected with HIV/AIDS. The majority of these children are infected via mother-to-child transmission. This crucial situation put many questions in front of faith communities and families, and needs to be addressed adequately.
Prior to the 17th International AIDS Conference to be held in Mexico City in August 2008, the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) together with Asian Interfaith Network on HIV/AIDS (AINA), the Church of Christ in Thailand AIDS Ministry (CAM), and other NGOs organized an inclusive five-day pre-conference addressing the concerns of children’s rights. The sub-title of the conference was, “Reclaiming the Rights of Children Affected and Living with HIV/AIDS in Asia." I felt lucky to have the chance to be a participant, and I also worked behind the scenes as one of the documentation team members. This was the first HIV/AIDS conference that I have attended.
Seventy-eight religious leaders from 11 Asian countries attended, including Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Hong, Kong, Korea, Philippines, and Indonesia. As the title states, this was an interfaith conference with Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, and Muslims coming together in a collaborative effort to plan a response to the growing problem of vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS.
The keynote speaker was Ms. Win Sie Cheng of UNICEF, Bangkok. Ms. Cheng said that the primary mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS in Asia is sexual contact such as men that have sex with men (MSM) and female sex workers (FSW), with clients transmitting the virus to their spouses and children. Prevention measures among females are a vital component to reduce mother-to-child transmission.
Group photo of all the participants of the HIV/AIDS pre-conference.
One of the participants from India spoke of his experiences of being HIV positive and how his faith has become a critical part of his acceptance in a society that ostracizes and discriminates against people with HIV/AIDS. It was moving to hear someone speak from the heart and talk from experience.
A group of children from “House of Love” performed a presentation at the conclusion of the first day of the conference. They sang a song about God and love and spoke about their hopes and dreams. All the children at the conference were HIV positive.
Children from the "House of Love" participate at the conference by singing a song and then answer questions and share experiences about their lives.
Children from the "House of Love" participate at the conference by singing a song and then answer questions and share experiences about their lives.
On the second day, we were divided into four groups to go to field visits to observe what is being done within the community regarding children and HIV/AIDS. I visited the “House of Love,” which is a house for vulnerable children affected and infected by HIV/AIDS. Approximately 30 percent of the 27 children at “House of Love” are infected with HIV/AIDS. The children are from various hill tribes and have been abandoned, neglected, or orphaned.
During our visit, we listened to the story of one of the girls who was raped and contracted HIV. Currently she is very sick and is unable to attend school. She just started her second line of anti retro viral (ARV) treatment about a month before our visit. She had lost a lot of weight and her viral load was increasing. I asked her what her dream was for the future and she said “I want to be able to live long enough to graduate high school.” I looked at her, and my eyes started to well up. I felt very proud of her that she could tell her story to a bunch of strangers and be able to be so strong. It was obvious that she received a lot of love and support from the staff at the “House of Love.”
This visit to “House of Love” emphasized what this conference was about. You can have all the conferences in the world and talk about every conceivable problem with HIV/AIDS, but unless action is taken, it is all just a bunch of words and ideas with no meaning. Action begins with you and me
Blessings
Brett Faucett Mission Co-worker
The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 92
