Nuns target neglected HIV/AIDS children

A group of Myanmar nuns are focusing their pastoral efforts on often-neglected children suffering from HIV/AIDS.

Three Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition in Kalay work with a ten-member team to assist 26 orphan vulnerable children (OVC) infected with the HIV virus by their parents.

At their “Shelter of Charity” center, the sisters assist with nutrition, school and tuition fees, medicine and even funeral expenses.

Ten children and two adults living with HIV/AIDS also stay at the center, which was founded in 2007, on land donated by Bishop Mang Thang of Hakha Diocese, Chin state.

“There are many NGOs who help HIV/AIDS people but few focus on children with HIV/AIDS,” Shelter of Charity director Sister Felicity Ciin Lian Niang told ucanews.com.

“That’s why our priority is helping these children who are the poorest of the poor. We can’t do much but we offer our small help through the grace of God,” Sister Ciin said.

“I never give up despite the financial challenges or the stigma,” she added.

The center, which is one of eight initiatives launched by the Catholic Church in Myanmar for HIV/AIDS sufferers, provides outreach and emergency services for HIV/AIDS patients.

It also offers life skills training, awareness raising and child protection services to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) and other young people.

“After joining the center I came to understand the situation of children living with HIV/AIDS,” nurse Elisabeth Sing Pai, 25, told ucanews.com.

“So I want to serve them as much I can,” she added.

Pum Khan Khual, 14, an orphan who stays at the center, told ucanews.com that he now wants to become a Catholic and a priest.

In the Kalay region, which borders India, needle sharing, blood donations, and sex are the main vectors of transmission of HIV.

There are an estimated 100 OVCs in the area.

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