Her father, Bamsung, died of AIDS when she was 5 years old. Her penniless mother left Namfon to be looked after by her own widowed father, Djan (Namfon’s grandfather), whilst she sought work in Bangkok. That was the last Namfon was to see of her mother, who has never returned. Most probably she too died of AIDS.

Namfon herself is not infected, but her situation exemplifies what is meant by ‘affected’ by HIV. Djan was already in his early 70’s (he is 82 years old now). Bamsung’s father, Saeng, lived in the same village and was also recently widowed, so the two grandfathers decided to pool resources and look after Namfon under one tin roof. Neither of them had other children.

Their only source of cash income has been from gathering wild coffee beans on the hills high above their home, which they sell for 3-5 baht per kg. That’s about 10p, and in the terrain it is difficult to pick up more than 2 or 3 kg each day. There was no way they could afford the uniform, shoes and transport costs to enable Namfon to attend school.

Fortunately the charity’s social worker came to hear about Namfon via the village network.  With the charities provision of monthly supplies and school necessities, the grandfathers have been able to keep Namfon with them in their community. She is an exemplary student. As she grows up and her grandfathers grow increasingly frail, the caring roles will reverse.

Current charitable activity

Namfon is one of about 350 students continuing to be supported by the UKTCF. The two full-time social workers monitor the changing needs of the young people, identifying those whose family circumstances have improved (often through small business ventures for which the charity has provided seed funding). As young people graduate from technical college or university and find work, their funding can be to be used elsewhere.

Newly orphaned children are thankfully extremely infrequent now that sophisticated HIV care is widely accessible in Thailand, and people with HIV are surviving. However – as has been seen globally – some older children who were infected around the time of birth are showing signs of HIV for the first time aged over 10 years of age, and 14 such children have been taken on by the charity in the past year. Their families need extra support to cover the costs of hospital visits, even though the actual treatment is free.

Minimising overheads.

Costs of administering and distributing financial help and provisions are defrayed by increasing support from the young people themselves, who have benefited over the years. Professor Vicharn and Dr Prakong continue to supervise and direct the project, donating their time free. Their energy, dedication and selflessness are deeply inspiring.

They emphasise the need for the children and families to become increasingly self-reliant. All families now receive seeds for growing their own vegetables. If they grow more than they need for themselves, they are encouraged to sell the excess. However, if they don’t bother to sew the seeds, further funding is withdrawn. Self-reliance and helping others are the key qualities that Prof Vicharn wishes to instill in the ‘graduates’ of the programme.

As Trustees, we remain wholly convince that the charity is playing a crucial role in enabling this group of young people to fulfill their potential. The support from donations raised in the UK is even more critical in the current recession, which has seen a substantial reduction in Government assistance. We very much hope to continue our current level of support over the next five years, whereafter the need will gradually decline as the young people become independent adults.