Rays of Hope for Children Living with HIV/AIDS

· 4 minutes read

Standing behind children living with HIV/AIDS (ADHA) are individuals who have decided to dedicate their lives to these children. They had left behind their normal lives to take on a parental role in caring for and raising ADHA.

Islamiyah, 51, a caregiver at the Lentera (lantern) Foundation shelter in Solo, was getting ready to pick up 1-year-old D. from Dr. Moewardi Hospital on Thursday (18/7/2019). D., one of the residents at the Lentera children’s home, had been hospitalized on Saturday (13/7) for vomiting.

"He is like my own grandson. I have cared for him since he was born," said Islamiyah.
Working shifts with other Lentera caregivers, Islamiyah was the one who took D. to the hospital. "He is very close to me," said Islamiyah, who has been a caregiver since Yunus Prasetyo and Puger Mulyono founded the Lentera Foundation in 2013. Islamiyah lives with 32 ADHA at the Lentera children’s home.
She wakes at around 3 a.m. every day to sweep the yard, cook breakfast and then bathes the children who are younger than 10 years old.
After the children have their breakfast, it is the turn of caregiver Kristato, 38, to take them to school. Kristato, nicknamed Om (uncle) Tato, is also the guardian of three junior high school children, 16 elementary school children and one kindergartener. In addition to taking them to school, Kristato also takes care of their enrolment and grade reports and attends parent-teacher meetings.
"I am here to atone for [my] sins," said Tato, who is a rehabilitated former drug abuser. "Here, I have found family. I also wanted to [settle down] because if I meet my old friends, the potential to go back [to drugs] is greater," said Tato, who has been a caretaker at the Lentera children’s home for the past year.
Tato regularly helps feed and give medicine to 12 toddlers at the home. He has also becomes their playmate and “uncle”. "Here, I have found peace. I am grateful to have met the children here and am more grateful for my life. [...] I’ve wasted much of my life," he said.
The Lentera home encourages building familial ties so the children feel comfortable, as if they were amongst their own family. Lentera Foundation chair Yunus is called "ayah", or father, while Puger is called "pak\'e", which also means father.
Yunus, an HIV/AIDS activist and social observer, started establishing the home in 2013. Armed
with Rp 18 million from selling his motorcycle, Yunus rented a house in Songgorunggi, Laweyan, Solo, to accommodate and provide care for ADHA. After moving several times from one rental house to another, they finally settled down in a new house that a private company had built as part of its corporate social responsibility program in collaboration with the Social Affairs Ministry and the Solo municipal administration.
KOMPAS/NIKSON SINAGA
Children with HIV/AIDS play together on Tuesday (16/7/2019) at the House of Love shelter, run by the Batak Protestant Church in Nainggolan district, Samosir regency, North Sumatra. Children with HIV/AIDS face discrimination at school, in the community and even from relatives. Some children have been turned down from enrolling at public schools.
Life’s call
Enni Simanjuntak, 31, and Elisabeth Sihombing, 25, have both responded to the call to care for children living with HIV/AIDS. The two women are deaconesses of the Huria Kristen Batak Protestant Church (HKBP) and serve as caregivers at the church’s House of Love, a home for ADHA in Nainggolan district, Samosir regency, North Sumatra. The House of Love was founded in 2015 and is now home to six children living with HIV/AIDS, all orphans.
Four of the children were expelled from their schools last year, when several parents threatened to withdraw their children from the school if the children living with HIV/AIDS were allowed to remain at the school. Many food stalls in the neighborhood also refuse to serve them, while some parents forbid their children from playing with them.
Enni and Elisabeth care for these children amid such conditions. They are frequently reviled by some people who do not like the children living in their neighborhood. Enni and Elisabeth, who have become “mothers” to the children at the House of Love, take the insults stolidly. "I believe this is a call from God," said Enni.
Despite the discrimination, Enni and Elisabeth are dedicating their lives to showering the children under their care with love. The two are rays of hope that will guide the children to a better future at the home full of love.
(ERWIN EDHI PRASETYA/NIKSON SINAGA)

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