Newsletter 2 2013

Mother of Perpetual Help Center Thailand Newsletter No. 2 December 2013

We here at Mother of Perpetual Help Center wish you and all your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year

A n o t h e r b u sy year has come and al mos t gone, so we look f orward to anoth er g ood year. As in past ye ars staff from the C enter have been busy looking after patients at Villa Marie Hospice, teenagers at Ban Mae Marie, the Aids Education progr am with the youth in schools and so many other activities which keep the Center running.

In 2013 as a resul t of people not tak ing these medications a n increasing n umbe r of people have died. Two in particular w ere sad cases as they were too young to die.

Both young men had spent time at Ban Mae Marie, both only 19 years old.

Other patients at th e hospice are long t erm cases as they have no where to go, no home to return to a nd no one who is in terested to look af ter them. In reality, t hey will be with us for l ife. Some of them will Villa Marie Hospice need to have full ti me care at the hosp ice, others who are ab le to look after themselves for the most part we have renovated With the aids antiv iral medications being some of the buildings on our farm as a a v a ila b le t o thos e living with aid s , the home for them, here they can look a fter number of deaths has decreased over the thems el v es . years. Now people can live a normal and p ro l o n g e d lif e — pro vided they tak e car e of t h e mse lve s p r oper ly and take their medi c ations as pres cribed . While at Vil la M arie there is no problem for them taking th ese me d ica t io n s, but many once leavi ng the h o s p ice f e e l w ell an d think they don’ t h av e to take these medicines — that is a problem!

Ban Mae Marie Teenagers at Ban Mae Marie are doing well. Four of them who have been waiting to take special training at the local government vocational school have begun their studies—two with training to repair air conditioners and two learning computer science.

One of the fellows who had completed his studies in repairing air conditioners has gone through his practical work experience and now working full time in a neighboring Province.

He returns every three months to collect his medications at the hospital here. One of the girls has been studying office and computer management at the technical school and is doing well—her course is for two years. Others continue at the local schools.

Training kits being prepared by Br. Damien and Br. Bernd for distribution for each school with books and needed items for teachers to give aids education with their students. Teachers have shown a keen interest to learn more about aids to help them in their schools. The teachers from the district of Non Sang will go through the training program in 2014, at the same time these schools will have a two day follow-up program assisted by their teachers.

Children

Aids Education Awareness

Mother of Perpetual Help Center will go into its 11th year giving aids education and awareness to the youth in schools. Nong Bua Lamphu Province has six districts, the Center has done 20 schools each year in one of the six districts. This year the Center began a new program to train teachers in all schools so that youth in these schools will eventually get aids education regularly rather than waiting for staff from the Center being available only every six years. Once teachers have been trained, they will assist staff from the Center in their school in giving aids education to their own students.

The Center continues with distributions of school clothing and materials to children of HIV and poor families throughout the Province. These distributions are made possible through the help of funding agencies. The leaders from each of the six HIV groups are familiar with the most needy children and give details to MPHC. The number of children receiving assistance continues to remain at around 400.

Mother of Perpetual Help Center and Ban Mae Marie can always use extra support for their many activities.

If you would like to help donations can be sent to: Divine Word Missionaries Mission Office—1835 Waukegan Road Techny, Illinois 60082 www.svdmissions.org (on-line) www.aidshelpthailandia.com “Thank you” to all who have so generously supported our endeavors through prayer and other donations.