Bangkok Post - May 22, 2003
Bruce Stanley

"Well, I have a different life now and the yacht is part of the past," he said with a smile.

After Jose arrived in Phuket, he decided to settle near Ao Yon beach and in his free time began teaching the local Sea Gypsy children how to sail. He was invited to attend a meeting of community groups at the Public Health Department and was introduced to local health officials working with women and children with HIV.

"I found it incredibly sad that there were so few resources for these women who discovered that they were infected with HIV," he said. "Mostly, they are told they have HIV and should prepare to die as they have no money for expensive anti-viral drugs."

Jose decided to open a shelter, Life Home Project, for these women and their children who are rejected by the community and even their families. He found a large building and accepted his first group of women in September, 2001. Within a few months he had 29 residents, six of whom died shortly after.

"These women are not involved in the sex industry. They are wives of men who have contracted HIV through casual sexual contact with infected sex workers and then passed it to their wives," he said.

"These women soon become widows who must support their children, who often are born with HIV but eventually the disease makes them weak and they can't even support themselves and they have nowhere to go. Even their families reject them as they are afraid of catching the virus."

There are an estimated 5,000 infected people with HIV on Phuket but they are difficult to track as many return back to their home provinces when they become sick and others accept they are going to die and don't want attention and discrimination from family and friends.

A small group spends time at Vachira Hospital, the primary government hospital on Phuket, getting what drugs are available. This is where Jose and his volunteers meet women and children with HIV and offer them a home at his Life Home Project.

Volunteers have become essential to help with the growing numbers of infected families coming to Life Home Project for help.

Kathy Manthei is an art therapist with a degree in community development who began helping Jose with the Sea Gypsy children, teaching them to express themselves through painting and drawing. She works with the women and children of Life Home Project, giving them the skills to create some revenue through painting and drawing greeting cards for sale.

"We give these women paper and paint and then I help them to draw their feelings. This therapy helps them to solve problem and helps to boost their self-esteem," says Kathy.

Recently, a new line of handicrafts is bringing needed revenue to help pay for the women's personal expenses.

Life Home Project has been endorsed by the director of Public Health and assisted with generous donations by Phuket's British Business Association and the Patong Rotary Club. Dulwich International School and the Greenhouse Preschool have both contributed significant amounts of money to help pay for the ongoing costs of Life Home Project. But the Project is growing with currently more than 40 residents that need to be fed, clothed and given medication.

"Life Home Project has four main activities," Jose said. "The first is to give shelter to women and children with HIV. We also have developed a mobile unit that visits poor residential areas that have the highest rates of infection, and we deliver powdered milk to malnourished children and encourage those at risk to get tested for HIV. Third, we've established a scholarship programme for HIV-infected children as well as Sea Gypsy and other poor children so they can attend school, and finally, we work to provide healthy recreational activities for these children so that they will have some semblance of a normal life," he explains.

As the project expands and tries to fill greater needs on Phuket, the costs have also grown.

While there are many NGOs, Thai religious organisations and government agencies helping with the same problems in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Life Home Project has gotten no financial assistance except from the generosity of local donations and fund-raising efforts.

Helene Fallon Wood is a long-term Phuket resident who began teaching English to Life Home Project residents and soon saw the need to bolster fund-raising efforts. With a background in production management in the communication industry, she is leading current projects to give Life Home Project sound financial support.

"The need to help local people, who can almost be called victims of Phuket's success story as a major centre for international tourism, grows as more are diagnosed with HIV," she says. "It only costs 1,200 baht a month for copies of anti-viral drugs which can save a life but most cannot even afford that amount."

As chairperson for fund-raising, Helene approached the Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa to sponsor a major charity gala event to help support the needs of Life Home Project.

"Happily, the Marriott was more than pleased to help and we have planned an evening of fine entertainment and great food on May 31 to be held at the resort's main ballroom," she said. "The evening will follow the popular formats of past charity events with dancing and auctions and raffles. We are also looking forward to presenting the activities of Life Home Project to the greater community on Phuket."

While fund-raising events are essential for any charity hoping to meet their objectives, Life Home Project needs ongoing individual and group donations to ensure the support of the shelter and their residents.

"We would invite Phuket residents to consider making a commitment to sponsoring the education of a child. This is 6,000 baht a year. The annual cost of copied anti-retroviral drugs for one person is 15,200 and 12,000 baht will feed one of our women for a year," says Helene. "We are hoping that at our fund-raising event on May 31, Phuketians will be generous and join one of our sponsorship programmes."

- Those who cannot attend the charity event at the Marriott Resort and Spa can contact Jose at lifehome@loxinfo.co.th or Helene at newhome@loxinfo.co.th to find out how they can help. They can volunteer to help at the shelter or make a regular donation and become part of this worthwhile project to help those who cannot help themselves.

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