Fighting Against Discrimination

· 5 minutes read

One night, two men came to the Batak Protestant Church\'s (HKBP) House of Love in Nainggolan District, Samosir Regency, North Sumatra. Three-year-old P., a child living with HIV/AIDS (ADHA) who lives at the shelter, hugged the leg of one of the men in joy at the neighbors’ visit.

The man, however, kicked P. away, who burst into tears. The five other children who also lived at the shelter soon started crying, too. "Get out of here. You all bring bad luck. Just live with your families," the man said.

Deaconesses Enni Simanjuntak and Elisabeth Sihombing, who care for the ADHA at the House of Love, recalled the horrifying incident on Tuesday (16/7/2019), their faces filled with sadness. It happened a few months ago. "This is just one example of the discrimination these children face," said Enni.

Established in 2015, the House of Love takes care of orphans living with HIV/AIDS. The six children, aged between 3 and 15, also receive medical treatment at the HKBP Nainggolan Hospital. The children, who come from various backgrounds, have all lost their parents to HIV/AIDS.

That Tuesday, after finishing their homeschooling, the children busied themselves with their own activities. P.L., 12, sang and played a small plastic guitar. A. and S.T,. both 11, watched a cartoon on a laptop, while 7-year-old S.S. took a nap. As for 15-year-old B., it was his turn to make lunch. P., the youngest, was sleeping soundly on Enni\'s lap.

The children were ready for lunch. They sat around a small dining table and prayed, asking God to always shower them with love.

The care and warmth for ADHA disappear outside the House of Love. The children face discrimination in the neighborhood, at school and even among their relatives. Several food stalls have refused to serve them. Some people prohibit their children from playing with ADHA.

The children were discriminated at school. Last year, S.S. was kicked out of kindergarten, and S.T. and P.L. were kicked out of a state elementary school. They went to school for only two days before they were asked to leave. The parents of the other children had asked the school to expel them for fear that their children would be infected.

Long before the children were kicked out of school, their own relatives rejected them after the deaths of their parents. The House of Love is now the children’s new home and hope.

The children call their caretakers "mama", while Enni and Elisabeth call them "children". The six ADHA are like siblings.

New friends

Some 2,400 kilometers from Samosir in Solo, Central Java, 11-year-old M. smiled as she arrived at an ADHA shelter managed by the Lentera Foundation. School had finished for the day and she was now home that Thursday (18/7). The fifth-grader\'s tiredness disappeared as soon as she saw her friends – who also live with HIV/AIDS – playing in the yard. She was happy and wanted to play with them.

"I have 12 friends at my new school," she said, shyly.

M. and 13 other ADHA at the Lentera Foundation have gone back to school after transferring from a state elementary school in Solo. They were forced to leave when the parents of other students asked the school to expel them in February.

During the two weeks they were not attending school, they filled their days playing and learning at the shelter. Some teachers from their old school sympathized with them and came to the shelter so they could stay caught up in their lessons. Some student volunteers from a university also came to teach them.

It was not easy for the children to transfer to a new school and adapt to a new environment. This is why they need guidance from caretakers and volunteers.

The children’s health has never been an obstacle for them to achieve great things. It is the discrimination from other people that hinders them. Most of the time, they endure the discrimination in silence for fear of being ostracized.

A., 16, who is from Bandung, said that he was never bothered by his health condition. Like other teens his age, he loves sports. "I want to be a professional futsal player. I want to play on the national team, like Andre \'The Tractor\'. I want to be a pivot, like him," said A. enthusiastically, referring to futsal player Andri Kustiawan, who plays the center striker, or pivot.

Regardless of his skills, A. is reluctant to open up about his health condition. He is afraid that he will be treated differently because of it. He prefers not to discuss his condition with his friends, and even his school does not know.

"When I achieve something, I will reveal my status as HIV-positive. That way, people will know that an HIV-positive [person] can still make the nation proud with his achievements," he said. (NSA/RWN/RTG)

Editor:

kompascetak hiv/aids