Christmas glitter sparkled on her bare feet as the affectionate little girl in corn-row plaits sat on the verandah floor, observing the greenery placed there. Wearing a pink and white dress, she was helping an older smiling lady decorate their home with Christmas branches, cloth poinsettias and shiny red balls.
Three boys also hung out in the verandah, watching, helping and generally just being kids last Wednesday, on a very hot, humid day in Tunapuna. The older lady, who watched over the children as she put up the decorations, is one of many “mummies” and “aunties” who are always on hand to look after the needs of the home and the children.
The children are members of a close-knit family of 24 youngsters and 22 staff in a unique orphanage in the East. It’s unique because, unlike many other orphanages, most of these children have grown up together since they were babies: it’s the only home they’ve ever known. They have healthy attitudes, lots of company, and round-the-clock caregivers (three per shift). There is just one baby in the home, a relatively recent arrival who is one year old; the other children range in age from six to 17. Thirteen of them are teenagers. Those of school age all leave the home daily to attend regular school (primary or secondary); the older ones travel independently via public transit.
The children also all share a particular condition: they are all HIV positive.
From fatal to chronic
There was a time, back in the 1980s and early 90s, when being HIV positive meant you would soon die of Aids (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). When the St Vincent de Paul Society first started the Cyril Ross SVP Nursery in 1994, it was essentially a hospice: sick babies, abandoned by parents, were brought there to die in a caring place. Almost every week or two, a child would die.
Now, however, since the advent in 1995 of the anti-retroviral drug called the protease inhibitor, and then, a year later, the multi-drug cocktails called HAART—for highly active anti-retroviral therapy—the landscape has radically shifted.
There is still no cure or effective HIV vaccine. But anti-retroviral drugs can suppress the virus for decades, meaning patients are significantly more likely to die of other ailments, such as heart disease or cancer (like many of the rest of us) rather than Aids. Many such people will essentially die of old age—once they manage their disease with medication and healthy lifestyles.
At the Cyril Ross home, apart from their HIV status, the children seem quite healthy: they receive daily doses of antibiotics and anti-retrovirals (paid for by the State), said caregivers. It’s part of the children’s hectic, normal daily routine: up at 6.30 am, they change, have breakfast, take their morning medication, head off to school, then later head back home, do their homework, play or relax a bit, have dinner, take their evening medication, and finally it’s off to bed to rest up for another busy day.
“For as long as our children continue to manage their medications properly, they are protected from full-blown Aids,” said Claudia St Bernard, a woman with a mane of silver dreadlocks who has managed the home since May 2013. “We have past residents who are now living on their own, who have married and have had their own babies, and the babies are HIV negative,” said St Bernard.
New care needs
This good news, however, has brought new responsibilities and big challenges to the St Vincent de Paul Society. From running an infants’ hospice, they now have to considerably scale up their services to cater for the emerging needs of the youth. These teenage survivors of a global pandemic must now prepare for fuller lives. At 18, they must all leave the home.
This means that getting a good education and independent jobs are crucial. The Society provides some transitional help by way of a house for young adults, where they can learn to live independently. But many there have faced new difficulties due to low educational achievements which makes it hard to get jobs, said Stephen Belgrave, the St Vincent de Paul coordinator for institutions.
(UWI staff may help in this regard; some staff are exploring the idea of doing academic evaluations and identifying each child’s specific learning needs at the home, so that UWI students may then possibly be assigned to students according to their needs. This kind of mentoring may help the children achieve better results while still at the home. Another possible area of assistance may be in staff training. But it is all still at the discussion stage.)
Holiday wishes
On Christmas Day this year the Fire Services Association is stepping up, providing breakfast, lunch and dinner too, and sharing activities with the kids.
A Christmas wish list for the Cyril Ross home from Stephen Belgrave and Claudia St Bernard suggested:
1. Better educational planning and help for teens, to help them get better jobs as adults.
2. A bus for the home, to take children on field trips.
3. A sponsor for a social worker for the home. The social worker would monitor children’s psychological and social needs, help to assess them, and help devise effective individual development plans.
4. Regular fruit donations. The vitamins and antioxidants in fruit help them avoid infections.
5. Donations of money (costs of haircuts, school shoes, book bags, uniforms and all the other needs of 24 children add up, said Stephen Belgrave. There are also costs of electricity and other utilities. Though the State provides a quarterly subvention, it’s not enough to cover salaries for everyone, he said; so the St Vincent de Paul Society must raise funds for that.)
6. Donations of time. Volunteers are very welcome, said St Bernard. She asks volunteers to please come in first to identify how best their skills might help.
7. General gifts are a welcome gesture, but it’s much better to call first and ask what is needed. Don’t just send boxes of toys or old clothes. The toys might not be of interest to the kids; the clothes might not fit!
What is HIV/Aids? AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a disease caused by a virus called HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). The illness alters the immune system, making people much more vulnerable to infections and diseases.
How do you get Aids? HIV is transmitted by three main routes: 1) Sexual contact 2) Exposure to infected body fluids or tissues 3) A mother can give it to her baby during pregnancy, delivery, or when the baby drinks her breast milk. You cannot get HIV from faeces, nasal secretions, saliva (unless blood is exchanged, eg through bleeding gums), sputum, sweat, tears, urine, or vomit unless these are contaminated with blood. And you cannot get Aids or HIV from a hug, or from a casual touch. Do all people with HIV get Aids? No. Being diagnosed with HIV does NOT mean a person will also be diagnosed with Aids.
To reach The Society of St Vincent de Paul call 623-4926/625-3562 or write to PO Box 1105, 20 Duncan Street, Port-of-Spain
On the history of Aids in the US: http://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/aids-timeline/
On HIV treatments: http://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/just-diagnosed-with-hiv-aids/treatme...
On Aids in the Caribbean: http://www.medwiser.org/hiv-aids/around-the-world/aids-in-the-caribbean/