Above: Interview with Father John, Mai Tam House of Hope Founder and Director

• Click on "What's New" for photos and news from the  fundraiser in Boston and for Father John's thank you letter to Mai Tam supporters

Mai Tam House of Hope

Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

The Mai Tam House of Hope is a home and center for HIV/AIDS positive children, widows,and mothers, that provides shelter, medicine, medical care, education, and referrals for its residents and the many walk-ins it receives in need of support. The children living at Mai Tam are both infected and affected by HIV/AIDS--some are HIV positive or have AIDS and some are the children or orphans of persons with HIV/AIDS.   

Because of the pervasive stigma of AIDS in Vietnam, many people with HIV/AIDS cannot find work.  Mai Tam provides its residents with the opportunity to make a modest income, housing a workshop where many sew clothing, diapers, children's clothes, wedding dresses, and the cloth masks that protect Ho Chi Minh City’s many scooter drivers from the dusty city roads.  

Despite the frequent ostracism of those with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam, Mai Tam has also been successful in placing 21 resident children in local kindergartens and primary schools.

In December 2009 the residents moved into a brand new home that includes classrooms where the children receive daily tutoring and an infirmary where the residents receive medication. Additional facilities have been added since: a home for widowed mothers and their HIV/AIDS children, which includes the dress making center; a staffed villa for those residents transiting into early adulthood--this "independent living program" was funded in great part by a grant from Slovenia;  a client walk-in medical clinic for exams, medicines, health education and consultationsfunded in great part by The Centers for Disease Control an Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, Georgia, USA)

Mai Tam also has an additional site, a hospice for terminally ill AIDS patients.  So far the Center has received funds to care for only 14 patients under this initiative.

Financing

Mai Tam supports its activities through donations from individuals, self-financing, and grants, including a PEPFAR grant from the United States government for community outreach programs in HIV/AIDS prevention.  Mai Tam receives no support from the government of Vietnam.

Mai Tam is currently seeking funding to provide the following services for its residents:

For information on making a tax-deductible donation to support the Mai Tam House of Hope, please follow the "Contact Us" link to us.  Updated 7/15/2015

Enjoying lunch

Photo courtesy of Anna Morris