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| AIDS patient in Tuol Sambo (Photo: CNN) |
Since starting its program to assist people living with HIV in May 2010, Habitat for Humanity Cambodia has supported 183 families to secure safe and decent homes in Prey Veng, Kandal and Phnom Penh provinces.
Som Chenda, 41, found out she was HIV positive in 2000. She is a mother to five children, and one of the people that Habitat for Humanity has been working with in Cambodia: “Where I lived previously, my family and I were subjected to unkind discrimination. We could never eat outside our home as people were uncomfortable to eat near us. Parents used to tell their children not to play with mine at school.”
Chenda used to live with her family by a river in a district on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital city. Her house would often flood and the roof leak. Earlier this year, with Habitat for Humanity’s assistance, she has moved in to a house in Dangkor district, to the west of Phnom Penh. Chenda lives in this home with her husband, who is also HIV positive and her sister-in-law.
“I have hope for my children. Now that I have a house, I know that my children will have a house when I am gone. And because I no longer have to pay rent, I am able to save money for their future,” continues Chenda.
Habitat for Humanity works with partner organizations equally committed to improving the lives of people living with HIV in Cambodia. These partner organizations help to secure the land on which houses are built, provide families with medical assistance and develop livelihood opportunities in order to provide a holistic support service to home-partner families.
To donate, volunteer or find out more about Habitat for Humanity, please visit habitat.org/asiapacific
The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Cambodia is amongst the highest in Asia, with an estimated 63,000 people living with HIV in Cambodia. There are an estimated 4.9 million people in Asia living with HIV, with the large majority in South and Southeast Asia.
To set up interviews, receive photography or further information, please contact Heron Holloway, +65 9068 1892, hholloway@habitat.org.
Habitat for Humanity Cambodia works with the following partners to deliver the ‘Enhancing HIV / Orphans and Vulnerable Children Program with Holistic Housing Solutions (EHOPHHS)’ program:
- Save the Children – Sharing Experience for Adapted Development
- Sihanouk Hospital Center of HOPE
- Khemara
About Habitat for Humanity Cambodia
In partnership with homeowner families, Habitat for Humanity Cambodia builds, rehabilitates and repairs simple, decent homes with the help of volunteer labor and donations of money, materials and other gifts-in-kind. Since Habitat for Humanity International registered a branch office in Cambodia in January 2003, Habitat for Humanity Cambodia has built over 1,000 homes and served over 3,000 families through our housing and community development programs in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Kandal and Battambang.
About Habitat for Humanity International
Habitat for Humanity is a global non-government organization that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat has built, rehabilitated, repaired or improved more than 500,000 houses worldwide, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 2.5 million people. habitat.org/asiapacific
Source: Habitat for Humanity International
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