Physical Health China Project #6138

Support HIV/AIDS Treatment for Kids in China

by Pediatric AIDS Treatment Support

Project Report | Oct 21, 2014
Bright Futures for Kids like Ours

By Jialing Wang | PATS Volunteer, GlobalGiving Coordinator

PATS Kids Charlotte's Web

Hello PATS Supporters,

As we welcome fall, we wanted to share a few nice updates with you. One of the PATS children and the work of our sister organization (Fuyang AIDS Orphan Salvation Association- AOS) is highlighted in a recent newspaper article.

"American woman who adopted HIV-positive child tells parents there is 'nothing to be afraid of'." The child adopted is not a PATS child but the photo of the girl featured is one of our kids. You can access this article here:http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/american-woman-who-adopted-hivpositive-child-tells-parents-there-is-nothing-to-be-afraid-of-9748632.html. We are very proud to be working to reduce the stigma that comes along with HIV/AIDS in a community where AIDS is still reason to shun classmates, neighbors and relatives.

Also, we have a fun update from the field. One of our PATS volunteers visited AOS this summer, and arranged a performance of Charlotte's Web with the PATS children. They did a really good job with this story of friendship. Their performance touched the hearts of every audience member. Attached is a picture from the play.

We wish you a wonderful fall and holiday season. And as always, we appreciate your support of our mission to give the PATS kids happy and healthy childhoods.

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Jul 15, 2014
Meet a PATS Child: Dian Dian

By Jialing Wang | PATS Volunteer, GlobalGiving Coordinator

Dian Dian at Home

Dear PATS Supporters,

We hope you are enjoying the beginning of your summer. With the summer we wanted to share a very heartwarming update written by our community health workers, Ming Yue and Li Chao about one of our kids, Dian Dian. We've edited some of the translation to make it clearer, but we wanted to preserve the essence of the way they wanted to tell Dian Dian's story.

We also wanted to share an exciting matching drive tomorrow, July 16th, starting at 9am EDT.

Starting at 9 am EDT on Wednesday, July 16th, GlobalGiving.org will be matching donations! For PATS, our matching level is 50%! GlobalGiving will be matching donations up to $1,000 per donor per project. That means if you donate $100 to PATS tomorrow, GlobalGiving will give us an additional $50 (while matching funds last)
There are $130,000 available in matching funds to all organizations and matching will be available while funds last or until 11:59 pm EDT on July 16th. Matching funds may run out quickly--so get donations in early.
GlobalGiving is offering a $1,000 bonus award for the project that raises the most funds and a$500 bonus award for the project that comes in second. They are also offering another $1,000 bonus award for most individual donors and a $500 award for the project that comes in second.

Meet Dian Dian

We met Dian Dian in 2010. Her mother comes from Yunnan Province, then got remarried in Li Xin Village Fuyang City. Dian Dian’s stepfather is kindly and simple-hearted. They lived with Dian Dian’s grandfather and her uncle. They built a new house which was much better than before. The road was paved under the whole village’s efforts.

Dian Dian studies in a primary school which is near her village. Her neighbors know her family’s situation but there has been no discrimination. Dian Dian plays with her friends and they study together without AIDS’s influences. Dian Dian does not like to study. We even went to her school, the education there is not good and teacher’s level is not high. Children at this age like to play and because their parents focus on the farm, it is easy to ignore kid’s studies. Sometime we bring the books and toys to them. They like them very much.

In these years, our program changed their drug awareness. In the beginning of this program, they often ate the wrong medication. At that time, we taught her mother the importance of taking their medication. Now Dian Dian’s adherence is much better than before. Although her mother now supervises Dian Dian in taking medication, sometimes they sleep very early and forget to eat meds. Since we came to her home for visiting, the influence is positive.

There are 3 kids in this family. Dian Dian was brought here from Yunnan Province, so she gets less love from stepfather than her brother. Every month we went to her home and brought her food and gifts, these food and gifts will be taken by her little brother. Dian Dian knows her situation and has no choice. When we talk to her mother, Dian Dian will rely on her mother’s shoulder. Maybe her mother is the only one who she can trust. Dian Dian can bear her brother’s bullying, because her mother teach her to be kind and tolerant.

One day, we visited her home. We walked around in her village for almost an hour. Dian Dian talked to me a lot without any guard. She told me about her classmates and the games they often played. Sometime her brother will bully her. In our conversation, we heard her grievances and her tolerance. We believe she is a kind girl and she will have a lot of friends in her life in the future.

I still remember our last home visit. Dian Dian wore a very thick jacket. This jacket was a new one. I said today is a little hot why do you wear a thick jacket. She was very shy and did not say anything. Her mother told us that because of our visit, she wants to show her beautiful side to us. Actually, Dian Dian’s the most beautiful girl in our heart. Because during every home visit we feel her pure heart.

Dian Dian and her Mom

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Apr 15, 2014
Our Local Partner's Boston Visit in February

By Jialing Wang | PATS Volunteer, GlobalGiving Coordinator

When PATS first started close to 8 years ago, having Zhang Ying (the head of AOS, counterpart of PATS, based in China) visit the US once a year seemed impossible. The only way for the two teams to meet face-to-face was for US-based PATS volunteers to make regular visits to China. As traveling from China to the US becomes easier and easier and the AOS-PATS relationship continues to mature, the PATS workers in China have the opportunity to visit the US and are taking over more responsibilities for the PATS program. Zhang Ying, the PATS lead health worker and a few AOS volunteers came to the US to meet with the PATS team in the US in February. The objective of the visit was to transfer operational knowledge on fundraising and antiretroviral drug adherence monitoring and evaluation from the US team to the PATS-China team. The visit fostered numerous discussions and initiatives.

We discussed one of the most successful fundraising programs, Sponsor a Child, extensively. The concept of pairing donors to specific children allowing for long term continuous communication was foreign to the PATS-China team. The volunteers in the US talked about different approaches to make sure the sponsors/donors stay engaged and feel the personal connection so important for the success of the Sponsor a Child program. We also talked about the possibility of expanding the program to Chinese donors. We look forward to supporting the workers in China in expanding the Sponsor a Child program to Chinese donors. **To Sponsor a Child via our GlobalGiving page, simply select the option to cover a child's expenses for one year, which is $880. We will then contact you directly to initiate the sonsorship and periodic child updates.

When Zhang Ying and the lead health worker were in the US, we also had the opportunity to go through each child's health status. We identified some children whose CD4 count ("good" white blood cell count important to fighting off infections) was decreasing over time and discussed the approaches to take to make sure the children are not developing drug resistance. By talking about each child's status one by one, we were able to brainstorm on ideas of further improvements of the program.

Following up from the face-to-face meeting in Boston, we continue to stay in touch to put in action of what we discussed through emails and phone calls. The workers in China are in the process of drafting Sponsor a Child letters and they have talked to the local doctors about potential issues with some of the kids' medications. The PATS-China team is beginning to drive more and more initiatives and the US team play a supportive role. We look forward to continuing to refine the ways of collaboration between the two teams and sharing our successes along the way with you.

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