Inter Press Service - September 15, 2004
Sonny Inbaraj

"Initially it's a shock to them, but when they see that I'm as normal as everyone else, they become more receptive to me," Aranya tells IPS.

Sixty-five year-old Charoen grins in the background.

"Oh! She's so charming to them that they often invite her to their houses for meals. It's good for business anyway," he quips.

Charoen and Aranya are business partners in a programme called the 'Buddy Project' run by the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) - a Thai non-government organisation that has been in the forefront in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the country.

PDA currently runs five of these projects in Chiang Rai district, where this border town is located.

Here loans of 24,000 baht (600 U.S. dollars) each are given by PDA, through the local AIDS community group, to two partners who intend to set up a business in the area.

"And so here, we have this pair of persons and the characteristic is that one of the two persons does not have HIV. So the one that does not have HIV supports the one that has HIV," points out Alberto de la Paz, a PDA project manager, in an interview.

"The buddy system is when you support each other. If somebody falls and gets hurt, the buddy picks up the partner," adds the Philippines-born de la Paz.

The PDA loan has to be repaid within a year and borrowers pay an interest rate of six percent a year. The interest payments in turn go towards supporting the activities of the Mae Chan local AIDS community group.

"We realised that there has to be an alternative way of providing assistance to people who have HIV. In the past it had always been something like a dole-out -- you just give and give and give. But that really is not a sustainable way of providing assistance," de la Paz explains.

Adds the community worker: "PDA has always espoused that we cannot be always giving things for free because it doesn't encourage any responsibility, on the part of the beneficiaries, towards what they're receiving."

"So the only way we could see through the problem is to create a way of providing assistance that would be a bit more sustainable."

The current HIV infection rate in Thailand, according to the Ministry of Public Health, is around 19,000 cases annually, which is a dramatic reduction from the 143,000 new HIV cases reported in 1991 - on record as Thailand's worst year.

A feature that has placed Thailand ahead of its South-east Asian neighbours in caring for people with HIV is the country's drive to increase the supply of cheap, generic anti-AIDS drugs to its citizens.

For Aranya, being able to work has given her a new lease of life since her husband died of AIDS two years ago.

"I have had experience in running a business because I used to work with my late husband in his metal works factory," she says.

"I am like any other normal person, so why should I be prevented from earning a decent living when I have skills?" asks Aranya.

But the mother of a 14-year-old boy says she feels lucky because she does not suffer discrimination in the community where she runs her recycling business with her co-partner.

"I feel I have a future here, in this business with Khun (Mr.) Charoen. The people in the community know I have HIV, but they treat me as a normal person," Aranya reveals.

Every month Aranya undergoes a medical check-up at the Chiang Rai district hospital to receive her anti-retroviral drugs and also to measure her CD4 plus cell count.

CD4 plus is an immune system cell that plays a key role in orchestrating the way the immune system attacks foreign invaders. HIV infection leads to the destruction of these cells, leaving the immune system less able to fight infection.

Anti-retroviral drugs are substances used to kill or inhibit the multiplication of retroviruses such as HIV.

"I'm responding well to the ARVs and Khun Charoen is very supportive of my treatment. He doesn't mind running the business alone when I have to go for my check-ups," says Aranya.

A five-minute drive down the road, from Charoen and Aranya's recycling plant, is a dumpling stall run by Sirinapha Anad-thaksa and Somboon.

This dumpling stall was also started with a loan from PDA's Buddy Project.

"It wasn't easy at first for people here to accept an HIV positive person helping run a stall and serving food to customers at the same time," says Somboon who contracted HIV from her husband six years ago. "Lots of people just shied away from the place. They wouldn't eat or drink here."

Fortunately, barriers have now fallen thanks to public information campaigns launched by the district hospital and local Mae Chan AIDS community group.

"It's not out of pity or anything that I took Somboon as a partner," Sirinapha tells IPS.

"This is a business venture and it really depends on whether it is viable. HIV people are normal like others so why should they be discriminated against if they still can contribute to society?" she asks.

But Sirinapha reveals that she has to play "mother" to Somboon on one issue.

"She just hates to take her ARVs and I have to make sure she does it every morning and evening," says Sirinapha as she laughs, while Somboon makes faces in the background.

For PDA's de la Paz, it's all a matter of hope.

"A mere 600 dollars gives a HIV person a chance in life. It gives hope and adds a new dimension in tacking the AIDS problem in the country," he points out.

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