Life skills camp for Children, "World Vision"

On April 28-30th, 2008 the World Vision Foundation in the Lampun district organized the "Life skills camp" for 55 children who are supported by "World Vision".

"World Vision" invited 4 staff members from CAM to be resources for the training. The 4 CAM staff consisted of Jaruwan Wutti, Supaluk Nammuang, Somdet Pornimitsakul and Siriluk Gowan

The objective of the training was to increase capacity building and to teach them how to take care of their own health.

The trainers helped incorporate the concepts learned in the camp to teach a way of living and being self sufficient within the economy. After receiving this training the participants will be able to utilize all the things they learned in their daily lives. The camp was held at the economic sufficiency learning center in the Mae Rim sub district of Chiang Mai.

UNAIDS

The 22nd UNAIDS Program Coordinating Board Meeting convened from the 23-25 of April, 2008. Over 500 people from UNESCO attended this conference which was held at the Holiday Inn in Chiang Mai. The objective of this meeting was to follow up on the evaluation reports and to formulate a strategy plan for working together in regards to AIDS programs in several regions of the world.

Rev. Sanan Wutti was invited to this conference on behalf of the CCT(Church of Christ in Thailand)

"Rot nam dam hua"

On April 17, 2008 the group (PHA) People with HIV/AIDS and their families gathered together along with private networking and development organizations for AIDS. These people came to greet and show respect for the network of people working with AIDS at the ceremony "Rot nam dam hua". This ceremony coincided with the Songkran festival and the Lanna New Year.

The AIDS Mission project arranged the food for lunch and joined in the fellowship of the 60 people that were participating.

Family Camp "Warm Heart of Love"

The "Compassion Foundation" held a family camp called "The warm heart of love" on the 7-8th of April. The main target group was a group of about 40 kids and their caregivers that have been suffering the effects of HIV/AIDS. The objective of the camp was to facilitate building relationships within the family. For example, the relationship between the affected child and their Parents/ GrandParents/Aunts and Uncles often have gaps. Within these family dynamics there are fears of talking to one another and doing activities together. There is a significant amount of shame associated with HIV/AIDS. Thus, the camp organizers invited 3 AIDS Mission staff "A. Nawanat Kunasawat", "A. Sasitawn Tinwongyuan", and "Ms. Sirilak Gowan" to be guest speakers. The guest speakers were able to encourage the building of relationships within the families. These were done through dialog and role playing. The participants all agreed that these activities helped their families begin to form better relationships with each other and that there was a feeling of love and understanding amongst each other.

Group support for people living with HIV/AIDS

This is a group called "Sai Yai Rak" (stream of love and concern)which is based in the district Pua in the Nan province. Saturday June 7th 2008 they met with Rev. Sanan Wutti who provides practical, spiritual and emotional support. The meeting was about ARV drug resistance and how to help.

Two children at this community meeting just started their ARV treatment medications. One of the children "Nat" (in the dark blue shirt)who is 10 years old is currently living with his Aunt. Nats Mother and Father died of HIV/AIDS 5 years ago. The other boy "Pao" (in the light blue shirt)is 13 years old and when he started his ARV medications 3years ago his CD4 count was at 16. Now his CD4 count is currently at 60, however his viral load has risen as high as 200,000. Pao's Father passed away 10 years ago from HIV/AIDS. Pao's Mother on the other hand is still living with HIV/AIDS and appears strong and healthy despite not taking any ARV treatment. Pao's Mother is very worried about Pao's viral load being so high.

This community center you see in the picture helps provide income generating with training for sewing clothes and other items. The "Caromando Valley Church in Adelaide Australia" sponsored this project.

Srikom pictured at the center of the photo is the only Christian among this Buddhist community. Srikom is the chairperson for this community outreach center. Directly behind Srikom is Lumpun and she is the Chairperson of the people living with HIV/AIDS for the Nan Province.