Epilogue

The following vignette stands out as I prepare to leave for the US.

In the final meeting with Saw Than Lwin, his cell phone rang as we sat in the tea shop discussing his role with HIV/AIDS. He looked at the message and didn't take the call but launched into a description of the case which the call was about. He said that his patient is a woman who has HIV/AIDS and whose older daughter was dead, having contracted the disease from the mother. The woman's husband died two months ago, also from HIV/AIDS. She has two remaining children, an eight year old with HIV/AIDS and a four year old who is not infected because of the woman's collaboration with the Mae Tao Clinic's Mother to Child Transmission program.

The issue at hand was the fact that the older daughter had just contracted TB and that Saw Than Lwin was afraid that the younger daughter would become infected. He'd placed a call to SAW to see if they could help.

He then returned the call and spoke for a long time, as we sat without any way of knowing how the call was going. He got off the phone and was relieved. SAW had agreed to place the mother and older daughter in their new Crisis House for Women with HIV/AIDS, which is currently unfunded. The eight year old daughter will be able to go to the Life Pages School which BBP funds. SAW had agreed to place the younger daughter in their Safe House for Children, which the Women's Commission funds until the TB infection clears. The four year old will also be able to attend the Preschool which BBP also funds.

A compassionate system that works.