Somnang is a little boy of six years old and lives at our school. His mother and father died from AIDS. Somnang has had level 3 HIV and although his health's improving he has Lymphoepithellal Cysts on his ear lobes, (a complication due to HIV). He urgently needs medical treatment in Phnom Penh 137 km away from our school. If left too long this complication can become malignant.
Somnang lives at our school in Kampot and our staff take him to the AIDS clinic for health check-ups and Retroviral medicine every month. Retroviral treatment and ordinary check-ups are free in Cambodia, but any health complications, even life-threatening ones due to HIV must be paid by the patient themselves. Kampot Town has no advanced hospital and no paediatric HIV specialists. He must go to a special hospital in Phnom Penh for treatment. This project can save Somnang's life.
Somnang will be taken to a specialist hospital in the capital Phnom Penh by our staff and his house- mother. The cysts in his ear lobes will be drained properly and the fluid within them analysed. His lymph-nodes will be checked by a scanner to make sure that he has not developed other pathologies connected with advanced HIV. He will have to go for frequent check-ups in Phnom Penh to make sure that there are no recurring cysts or complications.
Somnang is a wonderful, highly intelligent little boy. He is learning to read and write, loves drawing and plays the Gong Vong Thom instrument in our school's Pin Peat ensemble. He also loves traditional Cambodian dance and playing football. He is full of life, never complains about having to take his Retroviral medicine and is a loving and very loveable little child. He has suffered so much in his short life, but he has such a bright future in front of him and will achieve many things.
