HIV-positive orphans face eviction from Nepal home

Urmila Aryal, a 9-year-old HIV patient, reads a book at a table with medicines placed on it at the Saphalta HIV Shiksya Sadan School, in Kirtipur, near Katmandu, Nepal, Aug. 19, 2012. Over the past three years, ten orphan children with HIV have come to the two-story house converted into a school. / AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha

(AP) KIRTIPUR, Nepal - Raj Kumar Pun took in HIV-positive orphans no one wanted, and when no one wanted to teach them either, he created a school in the shelter. But now they are running out of money, support and time.

Ten children ages 3 to 10 live in the Saphalta HIV Shiksya Sadan School — the Successful HIV Home and School — in a pink two-story house just outside the capital of this Himalayan nation. But Pun has had to sell the building — his own house — and they must be out by the end of October.

The plan had been to rent a new building, but Pun said, "Most people don't want to rent their house once they hear the children are HIV-infected."

HIV patient Manju Chand, 10, is seen at the Saphalta HIV Shiksya Sadan School, in Kirtipur, near Katmandu, Nepal.

/ AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha

The school has two rooms where the children sleep, one room for classes and a kitchen.

Though the government provides the children's medicine, Pun, a 30-year-old high school teacher, spends nearly his entire salary covering the rest of the bills. He also teaches the children, along with friend Uma Gurung and two part-time teachers.

Pun and Gurung started the shelter three years ago after reading about the children in a local newspaper.

"Nobody wanted to take care of these children with HIV. It is not their fault that they are sick," said Gurung, who runs a small grocery store and has two children of her own.

They traveled to southwest Nepal and came back with four young orphans. More children followed.

Government schools barely function in much of the region, and the pair quickly discovered that local private schools were unwilling to teach them. "They even said it would be bad for their business," Pun said.

So he and Gurung took up the teaching duties themselves. But they cannot say where the children will learn — or even live — when the school closes.

[dosfier]

"Charity begins at home." I hate that this phrase is misunderstood and misused to make some feel better about not doing anything for someone else. In Christian theology charity, or love, means an unlimited loving-kindness toward all others. This indeed must begin at home.

Nepalese per-capita income is about $1000. 25% of the country subsist on less than $2 per day. Nepal is not overpopulated for it's size. It is under educated and under developed with a relatively newly formed republic form of government.

Those interested in this school may want to contact the US Embassy in Kathmandu. [e-mail] They should be able to give more detailed information about it.

[gjc1n1]

That's one of the nice things about being an American. We are free to do most things that we want including where and to whom we donate. Over the years I have donated both time and money to all types of charities, both American and International. I, and others, donate where the need is greatest. As an American, you are free to do the same but I doubt that you have donated anything considering your nasty attitude.

[CarolStrick]

Yes, please give us a donation site!

[credibility2]

Their parents should be put in jail and locked away for passing a sentence like this onto their kids. The person with the disease and who spread it should be put in solitary confinement for the rest of their lives.

[gjc1n1]

Adults in third world countries are very often uneducated and otherwise ignorant with absolutely zero access to health care and/or contraception. Do you really believe that people like this should be punished over something they have absolutely no control? HIV prevention must come from places such as government, charity and the United Nations. It will never come from poor, uneducated people.

What I would have liked to see in this article and it's sorely lacking, is a place where ordinary Americans can donate money to this group, if they so choose.

[gjc1n1]

The nice thing about being an American is that I can choose where and to whom I may donate my money and time. Over my very long lifetime, I have donated to charitable causes both in and outside the United States. Charity does not require boundaries. Too bad if you don't like where I choose to donate my money. As an American, you too can choose where you wish to donate your money or time. I suspect from your callous reply that you do neither.