Vietnamese Children with HIV/AIDS

Like I said before, it’s been a busy year for the Warm Hold team. Here are three other housing projects.

Huy:  Tran Quoc Huy is a 5 years old boy with HIV who was born in Long Vinh commune, Chau Thanh district, Tay Ninh province. His father died of AIDS. He is living with his mother, a countryside woman with no job and is illiterate. Under suffering situation, she does house-work for any family to earn a little income for both mother and child. Huy is malnourished and very small for his age. It’s hard to image the conditions they were living in when you see the photos below. The Warm Hold team in cooperation with other local donors has provided them a safe and healthy place to live. This house was just completed in August.

Before and after photos.

Phuoc: Phuoc is a 4-year-old boy with HIV. Phuoc’s father died of AIDS in 2012, and his mother abandoned him. His grandmother, Thi Toi, who is 63 years old, has taken on the challenge of raising a young child with HIV, and works hard to sell lottery tickets on the streets to support her grandson and herself.

In January, I first met Phuoc and his grandmother, who at that time had a serious snakebite on her hand. It was not a pretty sight. They were living in a terribly unsafe and dilapidated shack. The Warm Hold team, in cooperation with the local government and a local donor, built them a new house providing a safe and healthier living environment, and providing hope for an improved life.

Before and after photos;

CAM: THACH MONG CAM, was born in 2009. Nationality : Khmer – Vietnamese. Living in CAU TRE hamlet, PHU CAN commune, TIEU CAN district, Tra Vinh province. The house is almost collapsed and very dangerous for those people who are living inside the house.

The mother and girl are HIV infected. Her husband died by AIDS. The girl does not go to school yet, and suffers from both Poverty and the sicknesses associated with HIV. I met this family in January of 2014 and visited this home. Their house was in terrible condition as you can see from the photos. In August of 2015, we are starting to build a new home for them. Project update will follow in a few months at completion of the project.

Photos of existing house.

A big thanks to Hoang and the Warm Hold Association Team for their great work on improving the lives of these children and caretakers. And thanks for the local governments, local donors  and other contributors for their support.

Peace to all

Dan

DONATE:

It’s been a busy year for the Warm Hold Association Team. One area of activity has been improving the housing situation of several children and their caretakers.  Addressing housing problems has been considered essential to provide adequate support to a caregiver’s families. 

Here is a brief summary.

1. I visited this young boy and his grandmother in January of 2014 in Cau Ke district of Tra Vinh province.  Actually, I had to ride on a motor bike for about 15 minutes to get the the home as it is not accessible by car. The family is very poor and the grandmother has health issues and unable to work. The home was in incredibly poor condition and falling apart. The Warm Hold Team coordinated the effort to build a new home providing both a safer and healthier environment to live in. (See the following before and after photos. )

2. In October I provided an update about Thuy and Nhu, two sisters with HIV. This is a photo of Thuy and Nhu, their two young cousins, their Aunt, and the Warm Hold team members inside the new house. I visited this family in January of 2014 (Old House). These two girls are so full of life and I can truly say they were an inspiration for me. The Warm Hold Team has made a huge improvement in the lives of this family with the new house and micro-loan to start a new business.

Peace to all

Dan

DONATE:

I can’t believe it is May already. I want to thank all who have supported and who have interest in this important project.  Our two 1/2 marathon fundraisers in October and November were very successful and you can see the results on the “Sponsors” page. And, it was great to run with my two wonderful daughters who both kindly slowed down to my running pace!

In April we kicked off the construction of two new houses and we will be starting a third in May.  I will soon post details of the children and families that we are supporting with these projects. And, an update on the many other activities of the Warm Hold team in support of over 80 children with HIV and their caretakers.

I’m in training again and have targeted three (YES…three) half marathons for the fall which just confirms that I must be insane! But every mile I run I can visualize the difficult situation of these children and how we can help to make their lives better.

Welcome!  Please take a tour of this website and learn more about our very cool project in support of Children in Vietnam with HIV/AIDS.

Jenny and I will run a 1/2 Marathon on November 11 in Tampa, Florida to support our project. Elyse and I successfully completed the first 1/2 marathon on October 19. We thank everyone for their kind and generous support.

To sponsor us, click here: DONATE

PROJECT UPDATE:

The project team in Vietnam now works with 72 kids and their caretakers. Each of them have unique issues that need to be addressed. I wanted to give you an example of the work done by our team with two sisters THUY and NHU, who lost their parents to AIDS, and who both have HIV. I visited these amazing girls during my January visit.

Thuy and Nhu with picture of their dream house.

These two sisters are now being cared for by their Aunt and Uncle. The caretakers also have two young daughters of their own as well has his mother living in the house. So, the household just increased from 5 to 7 people. The uncle cannot work due do a kidney disease. The aunt is unskilled. The home is made of thatched walls and roof with holes so big a pig could walk though. The floor is dirt, and I’m guessing it’s mud when it’s raining. It is extremely difficult for the Aunt and Uncle to support two new people when they barely have the resources to take care of themselves.

Dan and Hoang with the Family

Here are a couple things our team has done to support the girls and this family.

1. We gave the aunt a micro-loan to start a new sustainable business to help support the growing needs of the family. With the loan, she started a business where she buys shellfish from the local fishermen and resells them to the local markets. As a result, she is able to make a profit of $2.50 a day (This is a significant amount of money). The micro-loan was in the amount of $50. After they have paid back the micro-loan, we will gift back that money to them.

Inside of house before construction

2. We are building them a new house! Very exciting! The team worked with the local government and other donors to raise the necessary $2,000 for the house. About ¼ of the funds were from donors in Holland, MI. The house is just about complete and will make a huge difference in the life and security of the family. Here is a photo of the house under construction. I should soon get photos of the completed house and will post when I get them.

House under construction

Thanks to the Vietnam team for the skillful work they have done to improve the condition of this family and kids.

I hope you enjoy this website!  Thanks for you kind support.

peace to all

dan                                                                                                                         DONATE

Welcome!  Please take a tour of this website and learn more about our very cool project in support of Children in Vietnam with HIV/AIDS.

The first 1/2 Marathon is less than 3 weeks away. Elyse is totally ready as she and Patrick ran the Park to Park 1/2 marathon in Holland on Saturday. I’m still in training but I ran 11 miles on Monday and did pretty well!   A good confidence builder.

Most importantly, please consider sponsoring Elyse and I on this run to support our very cool project in Vietnam. The accomplishments of our team in Vietnam have been amazing as I hope you can see from this website.

To sponsor us, click here: DONATE

I hope you enjoy this website!  Thanks for you kind support.

peace to all

dan

Welcome!  Please take a tour of this website and learn more about our project in support of Children in Vietnam with HIV/AIDS.

The first 1/2 Marathon is less than 5 weeks away, so I’m now in  intense training to prepare.  I did 9 miles on Saturday so am mostly on schedule. Elyse ran 12 miles on Sunday so she is good to go!

Most importantly, please consider sponsoring Elyse and I on this run to support our very cool project in Vietnam. The accomplishments of our team in Vietnam have been amazing and I see first had the effect on the lives of so many children.

To donate, click here: DONATE

I hope you enjoy this website!  Thanks for you kind support.

peace to all

dan

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