Beginning of new year 2010, Mai Tam has become home for 65 children. Moreover, it continues to provides support for children has been returned to family and community - we call it continuum of care program. Today there are 283 children living with HIV/AIDS in community are receiving continuum of care from Mai Tam. In the first quarter of 2010, MaiTam admitted two new infants, 1 mother, and helping 4 children returned to their families. Aside from medical support, Mai Tam also provides breakfast allowance, school fees, supplement nutrition, house renting support for all of them.

January - March

JOHN TOAI, MI

Gratitude, Love and Compassion: a new life a new beginning at Mai Tam

Gratitude, Love and Compassion, these are the three words that our children have been taught to live and remember. With Gratitude: We teach our children to be grateful for the gift of life, since each of us when live together we come to the awareness of our limitation and fragile condition. So we are thankful for each new day we can still live with one another. We are thankful for people who help us and trust that our life is valuable. With Love: we remind each other that, many of our children have never heard from their mothers, their fathers any single loving word and memory. Many of our children have never had a chance to see their parents. Yet, we need to tell them that they are lovable, and we love them. God loves them. With Compassion: we suffer with one another, we wish to share our suffering, pain because of AIDS related illness, we pray for our children friends who have gone before us. We pray for the return and healing of our friends in hospital. But we also try to teach each other to forgive, to create a home of hope and joy for one another. Our life in the new home.

Mai Tam News: 1. Xi Muoi first test has been confirmed

Xi Muoi came to Mai Tam while she was 1 day old just before New Year, her mother is HIV positive and we tried to give Xi Muoi Prophylactic medication hopefully she would be  free from HIV. Recently, the first PCR test has confirmed that Xi Muoi is sero negative. A good news for us and now we have to plan for her return to family... a new challenging task. We want to be sure that she will be safe once she is back. 2. Relentless battle against AIDS

Minh came to Mai Tam when he was 2 years old with HIV , TB co-infection, malnourished, and other AIDS related illness. Finding treatment for Minh was one of the most complicated tasks we have ever faced. Minh spent more times in hospital than in the center. A caregiver has to stay with him full time. At one time we thought that he would never come back. Yet, through his  relentless battle to survive, Minh just recovered became active again.

New Play room. We discovered that children need more space for creativity - so a new play room....

House Blessing

On February 5, 2010, His eminence Cardinal John Baptist has come to Mai Tam to bless our new home. It is a sign of solidarity and care of the shepherd who cares for his sheep. Yet, this event also opens a new chapter for residents of Mai Tam. Finally we have got a home of our own, we don’t have  to struggle to find a place to stay anymore. What we need now is to create a homelike environment for all who comes to Mai Tam. A safe place to stay, to be treated, to be educated and most of all to receive healing love.

Urgent care in pediatric hospitals.Recently Mai Tam often receive phone calls from nurses and doctors in hospitals when there are children living with HIV being abandoned. Usually these children are in the stage of AIDS and in critical condition. They need 24 hours care and presence. With the limited number of staff in hospital these urgent needs are not met. And infants in critical condition may died if do not receive adequate care and immediate intervention during emergency. Since January until now, there have been 3 cases of children being abandoned and Mai Tam was asked to send caregivers to care for these children in hospital for the past 3 months.

Growing into adolescent!

Before 2007, it was almost unthinkable that Mai Tam would have children more than 12 years old. Our major concern at that time was how to save lives, how to get treatment.

Today, with the help of treatment we have now more than 10 children age from 11 to 16s, many issues arises concerning their growth and development especially psychosocial issues. Addressing to their  psychosocial needs will be our major task in helping our children grow normally.

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Our children enjoy an afternoon with the computers. Through the help of our benefactors we were able to buy a new set of desktop computer but it seems that it is not enough for 12 teenagers.