The four-year-old was discovered wandering around a hospital in northern Thailand, abandoned by her relatives. It was later discovered that she was HIV positive. For the past 5 years, Gim has lived at the Care Corner Orphanage where I teach three days a week, and where she receives loving care along with a number of other young orphan children, all with AIDS.
Sad to say, Gim is now in the last stages of life on this earth. In order to make her remaining weeks comfortable she is in need of oxygen. Like so many other AIDS orphans in this country, nobody knows where Gim's from, as no relatives have ever been traced. She’s without proper paperwork & so is therefore not covered under any Government medical scheme. So any medical help, like the oxygen, has to be supplied by independent sources.
On this particular day, an American friend, Allen, had accompanied me to help out & observe our work. Allen was touched by Gim's plight and made a donation of $100 that enabled us to rent an oxygen tank for Gim.
Gim now spends 6 hours a day on oxygen but always wants to stop and play on my shift. She struggles to breath properly and has a severe tuberculosis cough but somehow she stays cheerful through it all. Gim knows she will be going to heaven soon but says she’s just thankful that she can remain at the orphanage, the only home she's known, and not at a hospital.
This is possible largely thanks to the oxygen tank that Allen provided for her. Allen considers this the best $100 he’s ever spent.
Sally Golding is a Project Manager of the Chiang Mai Family Services, a FCF project in Chiang Mai, Thailand
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