World AIDS Day: Camillians work to end stigma in Thailand
(Vatican Radio) The United Nations World AIDS Day is celebrated on the 1st of
December 2013 under the headline “Getting to Zero” – zero new HIV infections, zero
AIDS-related deaths, and zero discrimination. Among the many organisations working to combat HIV/AIDS, and simultaneously to eradicate the prejudice which still forces AIDS patients to the margins of many societies, is the Camillian Social Centre in Rayong, Thailand. To find out more about the work of the organisation, Giulia Cirillo spoke to the Director of the Centre, Fr. Chaisak Thaisonthi.
The Centre was founded some twenty years ago by Italian Fr. Giovanni Contarin, of the Order of the Ministers to the Sick – more commonly known as Camillians, after their founder St. Camillus de Lellis. The Centre’s first few years were far from easy, with a strongly prejudiced local community eventually resorting to a bomb attack in order to force Fr. Giovanni and his patients to move away. Since then, the Centre has expanded its current location in Rayong province to include, among other structures, an “Independent Living Centre” for teenagers, and a home and school for younger AIDS orphans.
The Centre’s work in raising awareness – which will include World AIDS Day activities for an 800 strong gathering of adults and children – aims to achieve what Fr. Chaisak believes is the most important goal in combating HIV/AIDS: ensuring an adequate understanding of the virus, in order both to prevent new infections, and to end the prejudice which leads many to reject infected family members.
Listen to the full interview:
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