Help Destitute Moms with AIDS Care for Their Kids

Since 1999, Kasumisou Foundation has provided care and support to fragile families and children impacted by extreme poverty and  HIV/ AIDS  in and around Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital city. In 2000 we  began  an attempt to create a formalized effort to provide homeless , destitute women  and mothers afflicted by mid-to-late stages of AIDS with basic housing, monthly food support and provide assistance  for the school expenses for school age dependent children.

Now, in 2016,  we continue to focus on providing the destitute women, mothers  and children in our program with modest housing, school expenses, basic medicines, transportation to and from medical appointments, counseling encouragement and food support.   We  have been supporting our families on just $140 per month on average.

The title of this project update is “ The Price of Rice” and we   would like to discuss  its impact on our program.

These days, in the US  we hear a lot about droughts in various parts of the US and the anticipation of El Nino rains to break the prolonged drought cycle . In the developed world, this drought  has been  a serious matter, with areas such as California imposing severe water rationing. For others, in the developing world  , such as SE Asia and parts of South America, the drought  situation may likely soon develop into a food emergency.

Impact of a “ super drought”

The flipside of the El Nino rains that recently came to the Western US has been  the impact of a "super"  La Nina in the southern hemisphere . It is causing a “super drought” in South East Asia,  and severe drought  conditions in Cambodia, such as have   not been  seen in nearly 10 years.  More importantly, the coming  rainy season is projected to have such a lack of rain as to be unable to irrigate the next rice just as global rice stocks stand a ultra low levels not seen in a decade.  According to a May 9,2016  article in Barron's "drought, floods ,and historically low global inventories have rice market experts worried" that the price of rice could double if rice harvests ( rains)  fail. World rice prices have already started to rise already beginning local impact.

Imagine how your own finances would be impacted if your food costs doubled over the course of a few weeks or months. Such stress is unthinkable for the families in our program and consequently, we anticipate that  our current funding costs  to support our families may rise significantly.

A failure of the rice crop creates dire conditions for the general population, including severe hunger, and even starvation  for families and children who,  already living on the edge of survival, will be unable to afford to buy nt adequate food .

Additionally,  a hunger driven  forced migration , could  bring thousands of desperate peasant farmers to the cities in search of work.  There is a likelihood that may there more children trafficked and other impacts  as  desperate families experience   the impact of sexually transmitted diseases (HIV/AIDS)  caused by  prostitution and trafficking  and creating an even greater need for the services of programs like ours and forcing our operating costs ever higher.   It is a dreadful cycle that we gone through before and one which takes families and communities year for recovery.

On average and at any given time, our program now serves approximately 35 to 40 AIDS afflicted women and their approximately 70 dependent children. We also continue to serve some AIDS orphans who are the children of women who died while in the care of our Family Support Program (FSP).  All of this is possibly only because of the kind  generosity of our donors.

Import Notice:  Make your donation even more effective on the  June 15 Bonus Match Day

June 15 is  a GlobalGiving Match Day, where your contribution can receive a match of 50%.  Your continued generosity can help us to continue to serve the fragile families in our programs  during the challenging months ahead.

Thank you,

Barbara & Mark Rosasco

A recurring theme in our updates for this program is how we  function  as the " family for the family" . In simple terms, it means that we are there to lend  moral support and guidance for our families. Many of the mothers in our program are illiterate or have minimal literacy. These moms , while loving to their children , are not sophisticated and often not really capable of identifying or evaluating complex situations and resources.

One such family, has been with us for more than 10 years. Ms. S, now age 20  and her family came to us when Ms. S was just a yound child and her father was dying of AIDS. The entire family is HIV positive  . Sadly, Ms. S's father passed away, but since that time  S, her mother and her younger sister have all been in our program.  Both mother and sister have been seriously ill at times over the years, although both are currently stable. S, has taken antiretroviral medications and tolerated them well over the years and  has remained well, until about a year ago.

S completed highschool with high marks, in the top 3  of her class and dreamed of being a doctor. After much discussion, her mother felt that she probably could not manage the stresses and strains of such a long education and that in the end, in Cambodia, where there is still great prejudice against AIDs, felt that no one would want to be treated or see  by a doctor who was HIV positive , so S set her sights on trying to attend local college and get a business degree.

After completeing 2 years of her program she fell ill, developing numbness in one arm which soon led to complete loss of use in her dominant hand and arm.  Doctors in Cambodia were baffled and told us to take her to Bangkok for diagnosis and advised us that unless we did this, she could permanently loose use of her arm.  We arranged for the 11 hour bus ride to Bangkok accompanied by an aunt and uncle who could speak some english. The bus ride was a small fraction of the cost of a plane ticket  .  We then made arrangements with one of our kind Thai friends to coordinate doctor and hospital appointments , accompany the family, arrange for inexpensive lodging and everything else.

Tests were performed   but were inconclusive.Treatment was prescribed with an uncertain view as to outcome.  S returned to Cambodia where her continued to deteriorate to where she was confined to bed at home in their tiny rooms ,with vomitting and extreme weekness, unable to stand without assistance. Although we feared she could die, she did not.   S  is a fighter and she held in .  Some weeks later we again arranged for another 11 hour ( one way !) trip to Bangkok  for more appointments for an MRI and meeting with a neurosurgeon  made a tentative diagnosis that there was inflammation around a tumor  but that without biopsy there could not be a firm diagnosis but the doctor felt  that  it looked like a type of central nervous system lymphoma and that a combination of chemotherapy and radiation might be the best treatment.There was no money for a biopsy and the family feared possible damage from such a procedure, so biopsy was ruled out and  the doctor  suggested a regime of other medications and a watch and wait position. And S returned to Cambodia.

The good news is that S has since  improved but the future remains unclear. She is determined to return to try to finish her degree, and  her strong will and positive attitude are something to marvel as we all hope for a miracle.

One thing is certain, without the support of Ms. S's " extended family" it is quite likely that we simply would have lost her. We  are hopeful that Ms. S will return to full health and return to her studies.

You, our donors, are also a part of the " family for the family" .Over the many years we have had  situations where on a wing and a prayer , with scarce resources, we have been able to pull   together resources to help our families navigate complex resources and solutions. We are grateful for your continued support .

Barbara & Mark Rosasco