Tunraka R; International Conference on AIDS.
Int Conf AIDS. 2000 Jul 9-14; 13: abstract no. TuPeD3733.
R. Tunraka, Siam-Care, PO Box 86 Sutthisan Post Office, Bangkok 10321, Thailand, Tel.: +66 2 530 59 02, Fax: +66 2 935 51 83, E-mail: siamcare@samart.co.th
Issue: A large number of poor, uneducated migrant women come to Bangkok in order to get a better life. Lonely and without any resources, they often enter into unstable relationships. They quickly find themselves pregnant, alone and infected with HIV. Having no relatives nearby, a low self-esteem and no financial resources, they feel unable to care for themselves and their child and see abandoning their child as their only option.Description: Out of Siam-Care's Home Based Care Project, a Women's Group was started by a handful of women who wanted to help others meet their multi-faceted needs. Through counseling and peer support women find understanding and friendship. Through education, women for the first time understand the facts about HIV. Through advocacy women are helped to receive AZT during pregnancy and to have new job opportunities. By accompanying women to visit their families, the Women's Group stimulates acceptance and reconciliation among relatives. Women who first came to the group seeking support and assistance often become active members and in turn help others.Conclusion: Through the Women's Groups, individual mothers are empowered to live and support their families independently and many have found acceptance from family members and assistance with raising their children. By supporting women emotionally, socially and physically through the Women's Group, the quality of life for the single mother family is improved and the number of abandoned children is reduced.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Behavior
- Child
- Educational Status
- Employment
- Female
- HIV Infections
- HIV Seropositivity
- Humans
- Mothers
- Poverty
- Pregnancy
- Single Parent
- Thailand
- Transients and Migrants
- education
Other ID:
UI: 102239785
From Meeting Abstracts