Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rayong (Agenzia Fides) – On the occasion of World AIDS Day, Fides has received the testimony of one of the many victims of the virus. Her name is Oon (Orapan) and at age 22, she has become an ambassador for the Center Camilla Rayong, able to tell of her struggle and hopes. Oon arrived at the Center at the age of 10, completely infected by AIDS, weighing just over 17kg. She had already seen a dozen other children perish as a result of the disease. The research and tenacity of Father John Contarin, Camillian, Director of the Center for AIDS Patients in Rayong, have saved Oon who at first had been using expensive drugs, then smuggled in from India and now produced in Thailand.
Twelve years of struggle and therapy have now made her among the longest-living women born HIV-positive. Oon has lost 4 years of school, which she has since then recovered with special programs, returning at the age of 17, to a school for company secretaries, which she will finish next year. Sje now lives in a house called "Independent Living" where, along with 22 other young people with HIV, she is preparing for the independence of adulthood, maturing affectively and in a profession, so as to be able to form a family. With her presence and testimony, Oon represents children and young people, both HIV-positive and AIDS patients, and wants to tell of the hard times she has experienced, to bear witness to the support and love she has received, the hopes that she has always had, and to thank the continuing financial support from the donors of the Camillian Center of Rayong. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 28/11/2009)
