Help Destitute Moms with AIDS Care for Their Kids

Our title  starts with "On the edge" . Our report will give three examples of young people who are at a crossroads  and who are  " on the edge" of change.

Since 2000  our project has helped destitute moms with AIDS ( in Phnom Penh, Cambodia ) care for their kids through our AIDS Patient Family Support Program ( FSP).   We have stepped in hundreds of times  to provide modest housing and the social support that is essential to create a stable family lifestyle . We have rescued mothers and their children who are living rough on the streets , we have provided transitional housing to mothers snatched from death and returned to fragile but better health by the care of Sisters at a local AIDS hospice and we have stepped in to prevent  families  from becoming homeless.

But far beyond these essential services, our goal  is to help children to stay in school and to help them see that there is a different life beyond the mean streets of the slums where they live. We want  to give these kids the opportunity to break the cycle of inherited poverty. Key to that effort is the  family support that we provide by actively monitoring the condition of each  of our patient families through weekly or more frequent visits and  providing  additional support when needed.

We are so pleased that we have two students who are just finishing their high school studies and who will sit for the national high school examination in August. Both students have a dream of passing the exam and qualifying for entry in to college in the fall. Both have been in our FSP program  and under our care for more than 10 years. Ravin, age 18, dreams of studying Chemistry and food science. Vichet, age 20,  comes from Anlung Kgang settlement  and wants  initially to study English. If they pass their  high school exams,  both will become  candidates for our college tuition program and Jobs for Cambodian Youth program.

Another young person in our program, age 14 , is facing an extremely serious and complex struggle. This young lady lives in a deteriorating family situation that may be on the edge of complete breakdown. Already quite fragile, the mother in this family has  become extremely unstable mentally . It is not unusual for HIV/AIDS to cause  dementia.  We are unsure as to the precise cause of this mental illness, but it is taking a toll on  14 year Srey Maol. Never a strong student, she has fallen so far behind that  she has dropped out of school and may likely not be able to return.  A further concern is that she is exposed to a steady and frequent stream of new boyfriends by her mother’s sister. Srey Mao and her mother live with this aunt.  Neither mother nor aunt  value education and so we are gravely concerned.  We trying to find effective measures to help  stabilize the situation including the serious challenge presented by the mother's deteriorating mental health of   finding an  alternative to the current  housing situation.

One temporary solution is to find activities to occupy Srey Mao  during daytime hours. We have decided that a possible temporary replacement to school could be full day class participation at our Champey Academy of Arts. This would provide structure 6 days a week and  help her build self esteem. It will also  keep Srey Mao out of the house and give her a break from the constant stress of her mother’s illness and keep  her away from her aunt’s boyfriends who are hanging around.

We are not sure we can “ win” this one, but we are trying hard to find solutions with the hope that bit by bit we can turn this situation around, or perhaps place this young girl on a different track of art, music or dance and exposure to stable adults.

Without your support, we would not have two newly graduating highschool students, and our young friend would be a just a tiny step away from a wasted life. Instead, we have two students with hopes of college, and young girl for whom we will try our best to keep moving forward to a better life.

Our heartfelt thanks to you all for your continued support of our efforts!

Barbara & Mark Rosasco

Update on AIDS Patient Family Support Program: What’s new in 2014

As we mentioned in previous updates , we have been working for more than one year to reduce our patient family load significantly. Our reasons were two fold: not only were we aware that some families’ living situations allowed for a decrease in assistance, freeing scarce resources for other participants, but also a reaction to the continuation of serious escalation in costs in our program of necessities . Off setting reduced numbers of patient families has been the significant upward trend of housing and food costs. Rents are going up with increases of 25% to 50% not uncommon for the extremely modest single room and tiny flats we provide. Food prices also continue to rise , with an approximate average increase in costs of 25% to 30% over the past year.

At the current time, our FSP census lists 38 families with 42 children of which 36 are in school and 6 are not yet of school age. Costs of the school kits that we provide to the children have risen by approximately 20% over the past year ( books, uniform, shoes). Of the children in school, 6 are HIV positive. We are so proud to be able to tell our donors that that three of our FSP families now have children in college!

Additional challenges are the simple fact that many of the children are now older, and as is the case universally, pre-teens and teenagers require a much greater degree of supervision and monitoring to keep them safe and on track at this critical time. Our focus on keeping dependent children in school remains as a key goal for 2014.

Medical treatment and medication now broadly available has allowed many of our families to continue to maintain an extended period of relative stability allowing children to grow up in a family setting. We feel that we have been successful   in achieving our basic mission of assisting fragile families ( primarily single parent) to stay together . Cambodia’s recent  civil unrest been quelled by a government response making the protests illegal

Lee Bopha , our new home care coordinator has capably stepped in to her new responsibilities. Bopha, a Cambodian and trained teacher in her mid-20’s , hae worked closely for several years with Juana Encolada, our longtime and beloved home care coordinator who returned to the Maryknoll order at the end of 2013.

We are grateful that our program is able to continue on to help the children in these families strive to break the cycle of inherited poverty.

As always , we are deeply grateful to you, our generous donors for your wonderful support.

Barbara & Mark Rosasco

Update on AIDS Patient Family Support Program:  Continuing the transition to independent living…

As we mentioned in our last update, our focus over the past year has turned to identifying those members of the FSP who are  poorest and sickest and  who  have  no means of support. This should reduce  our patient family load significantly. We are now in the process of revising our budgets for 2014-2015. Off setting  reduced numbers of patient families will be  the never ending upward trend of housing and food costs, which were key factors in trying to reduce our patient family load.  Over the past year,   we  have actively worked  to assess  which  families should  be capable,   of a successful  transition to independence or  a transition  toward receiving   the support  of their own extended families

Over the years during which  the FSP has been active, we have grateful  that due to the continuing advancement and accessibility of medical treatment to victims of HIV/AIDS.   Medical treatment and medication has allowed many of our families to experience  a long period of relative stability allowing children to grow up in a family setting. We  feel that we have been successful   in achieving  our  basic mission of assisting fragile families ( primarily single parent) to stay together .  Our  focus  on keeping dependent children in school remains as a key goal for 2014.

In recent weeks,  Cambodia   had unexpectedly experienced  significant  civil unrest  due to a contested national election. This seems to be developing into an ongoing situation with calls from the opposition party for daily demonstrations, which unfortunately can become unpredictably violent.    In the past, this type of unrest had a  spill over   effect into areas such as  personal safety which could impact tourism and industry and impact donor sentiment. 

In 2014 we will  welcome Lee Bopha as our new home care coordinator. Bopha,  a  Cambodian and trained teacher in her mid-20’s ,  has worked closely  for several  years with Juana Encolada, our longtime and beloved  home care coordinator.  Juana will  be returning  to her previous calling as a Sister with Maryknoll  order   after a 14 year hiatus, during which time she worked for us in our AIDS Patient Family Support Program.

As always , we are deeply grateful to  you, our  generous donors for your  kind support.

Update on AIDS Patient Family Support Program:  Continuing the transition to independent living…

Mark   is in Cambodia where he is  engaged in a detailed  review  of  our programs.  His particular area of focus is our  AIDS Patient Family Support Program  ( FSP) , which helps  indigent families and mothers  impacted by extreme poverty and HIV/AIDS.  

Returning to the heart of our initial mission statement for the FSP  in 2000,   our focus over the past year has turned to identifying those members of the FSP who are  poorest and sickest and  who  have  no means of support.  

Over the years during which  the FSP has been active, we have grateful  that due to the continuing advancement and accessibility of medical treatment to victims of HIV/AIDS, the families in our  FSP have been able to stay together longer. Rather than losing mothers and family members  to AIDS in a few months, medical treatment and medication has allowed many of our families to experience an unprecedented long period of relative stability and   some, while not well, have been able to remain  in our care for several years.

We have been able to achieve our  basic mission of assisting fragile families ( primarily single parent) to stay together   and  live  an extremely modest lifestyle.  Additionally,  our effort and  focus  on keeping dependent children in school has  paid  off.  We not only can claim a significant number of  high school graduates among the  children  who have been members of  our FSP over the years,  but also  several college students and recently  2 college graduates.

Over the past year,   we  have actively worked  to assess  which  families should  be capable, in the short term,   of a transition to independence or  a transition  toward receiving   the support  of their own extended families.   We have identified a number of families  who fit in these categories. Dependent   children have now grown up and  completed school, and in some instances, are able to  earn enough to support the family.  In recent years,  the Cambodian economy has  continued  to recover from the devastation of a civil war now decades past.  The economy has added factory and other  jobs and  shows some signs of continued prospects for growth. We feel that this improved economy should   allow  relatives  to  step forward now  and assume responsibility  or provide assistance to some  members of our FSP.  Now as we approach the end of 2013,  we are actively working to put an action plan in place to move toward this goal.

In recent days,  Cambodia   has unexpectedly experienced  significant  civil unrest  due to a contested national election. This may spill over into areas such as  personal safety which could impact tourism and industry and impact donor sentiment.  Stability has and will be  a key factor  aiding or impeding  our  efforts.

Mark will return  to the US on October 3. After that time we should be able to provide additional updates.

Our sincere thanks to our donors for their generous support. 

Barbara Rosasco

Inside the FSP: Transitioning to independent living

Mark left for Cambodia on June 23 , where he will spend 10 days  reviewing our programs, including the AIDS Patient Family Support Program  ( FSP) , which helps  indigent families impacted by extreme poverty and HIV/AIDS.

From the beginning of our FSP in 2000, the FSP has had a long term approach to keep families together , to prevent trafficking and to keep kids in school . One of the biggest challenges for the FSP is to offer the assistance needed to sustain families while encouraging self sufficiency.    Over the past 3months, we have continued our exhaustive and  careful  review of each family’s current status and  stability as well as their  potential for possible  financial  independence . During that time we identified 8 families who over the past 6 to 12 months are  gradually being phased out of our care, leaving us with a core of about 65 families remaining in the FSP at the present time.  We are please to say that most of those families have now begun their transition towards more independent living.  Much of this is possible because of our long focus on education as an economic enabler for children. The children of our target families  in this transition are now launched into a stable , lower middle class life which means that they are now in a position to provide family support for their mothers.

Periodic  assessments such as these are an essential and  vital  part of the FSP.  They free up scarce resources  and it  honors our commitment to our donors that we will be certain that funds are used, to the best of our abilities.

Mark reviews the status of each family every quarter.  Structure and discipline are applied with  large amounts of understanding, accommodation and compassion.

We are grateful for your support and  it is our honor to  have our efforts supported by you.  We are so pleased with the continuing progress of our families .

Barbara & Mark Rosasco