A shelter from the storm

A shelter from the storm

Monk Thich Thanh Huan (L) counsels patients at his Huong Sen Club for people with HIV/AIDS People diagnosed with HIV in Vietnam face incredible difficulties but a special club at a Buddhist pagoda in Hanoi makes the road a bit easier.

One cool autumn day in Hoang Mai District, Hanoi, a middle-age man walked up to the entrance of Phap Van Pagoda and leaned against the door post for hours. The head monk, Thich Thanh Huan, quietly observed this and eventually spoke to the man and invited him inside for a talk. The farmer from northern Thai Binh Province had come to Hanoi to make money as a porter, but instead of finding a job he had started using intravenous drugs and contracted HIV/AIDS. He was considering suicide when he came to the pagoda to find someone to talk to. Huan listened to what he had to say, then told him stories about people he knew with HIV/AIDS who were living and enjoying life. Moved, the man burst into tears and decided to return to his hometown and support his family. He sometimes writes letters to the monk, telling how his life is going. Since Huan established a counseling club four years ago, hundreds of people with HIV/AIDS have come to the pagoda when they reach a psychological crisis or feel confused. “I do not tell them [people with HIV or AIDS] what to do - but help them find a way,” Huan says “Only they themselves know what they need.” Hoping to do something to reduce the stigma of HIV/AIDS and help provide a better lifestyle for sufferers, Huan and several others established the club. The Huong Sen (Lotus) HIV Counseling Club, is located at the pagoda with more than 300 members who are monks, volunteers and HIV-affected people. There are 16 key and 40 permanent members help counsel patients and their families about health and psychology with Huan acting as the main consultant. They also take care of patients if needed. In addition to direct counseling, Huan provides a phone help-line for people from everywhere, such as northern provinces of Bac Ninh, Bac Giang and Hai Duong. “Every time I counsel them, I feel like a basket of fruit for them to pick from, for what they need,” Huan says. Real heroes Huong Sen Club, in fact, was developed from Vi ngay mai tuoi sang (For the brighter tomorrow) Club for drug addicts and people with HIV/AIDS that Huan set up at the pagoda in 2003. Huan says at first he established the club for counseling only, but as many of the clients lived a long way from the pagoda and others expressed their desire to become monks, he accommodated them and helped addicts rehabilitate. His rehabilitation program includes two stages with the first stage aiming to provide HIV/AIDS education. The second stage focuses on strengthening health, learning how to use traditional medicines and practicing Tai chi chuan, according to Huan. Many of the addicts have managed to recover and volunteer to help Huan run the club. He told Vietnam News Agency in an interview, “There is no secret to the pagoda’s rehabilitation program except for love, care, sympathy, healthy lifestyle and meditation.” The club with its simple message of love and hope has attracted many people. Sometimes as many as 25-27 people stay there. In 2004, Huan decided to divide the club into two parts - Vi ngay mai tuoi sang (For the brighter tomorrow) Club which operates in Long Bien District and Huong Sen Club at the pagoda. Since then, Huong Sen Club has done exceptional work attracting more members and sponsors from local and international organizations like United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). On his trip to Phap Van Pagoda and Huong Sen Club in 2005 as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, movie star Jackie Chan called the monks at the pagoda “real heroes.” “You, the Buddhist monks here, are ordinary people who do such wonderful things,” Chan said. “You have helped people in the Lotus Club enjoy exchanges to understand their lives and have a brighter future.” Recent statistics by the Hanoi Health Department showed the capital has roughly 12,400 HIV-positive people. As of late September this year, Vietnam had 135,761 people living with HIV, according to the Health Ministry’s figures. The ministry said more than 41,400 AIDS patients, 83 percent of whom are aged between 20 and 39, have died since the first HIV case was diagnosed in Vietnam in 1990. Source: VNA, SGGP