Prat (an assumed name) is a 27-year-old man, who is HIV-infected and almost completely deaf. He has had a difficult upbringing, growing up without his parents. After supporting his education when he was younger, Siam-Care recently had to interfere into his life again.
When prat was only 3 years old, his mother died because of her HIV-infection. His father moved away after this tragic event, and has completely abandoned his son. Thankfully his aunt and uncle were willing to look after him, ensuring he wasn’t totally alone. However, their income was not enough to support Prat’s education. They worked as farmers and struggled hard to make ends meet. And so Siam-Care started supporting Prat’s education.
School was a challenge
Going to school was a challenge for Prat, as he is almost completely deaf. Which was most likely caused by his HIV-infection. Making friends and communicating with teachers was a struggle and Prat has gone through school without having many friends. After he finished middle school, he dropped out and started working in a car wash shop.
Losing weight
After Prat stopped going to school, Siam-Care stopped supporting him financially. But recently, he was referred to us again. Through the local hospital, of which we learned that he has stopped taking his ARV-medication. Which was starting to have a big impact on his body. He had lost much weight and his skin was changing color. With medication and infected person can live a pretty normal life, but without it, someone’s health can deteriorate quickly and people can even die.
Changed his mind towards medication
Siam-Care counselors spoke to Prat and listened to his reasons for stopping his medication intake. One of the reasons was the financial costs for having to travel from and to the hospital regularly, which he couldn’t cover due to his low income. We ended up convincing him to start taking his meds again and will cover his travel expenses. We also explained that without his medication, he may not live much longer. And that by stopping, he risks becoming immune to the pills.
Siam-Care keeps on looking after him
For the time being, we will keep on staying in touch with Prat. He does not have any relatives looking after him, so our staff will try to do that instead. Our main focus are children, but since Prat has been part of our program as a child, and still struggles to survive, we will keep on pouring into his life, until he can look after himself again.
