Orphaned due to HIV/AIDS in North Bali village

Orphaned due to HIV/AIDS in North Bali village

Anton Muhajir, Contributor/Singaraja

Eleven-year-old Gede Edi Suantara was once a happy and healthy
boy. His life turned dark and miserable when his beloved mother
Kadek Widiasih died a year ago following his father who also died
two years ago.

Raised by his uncle, Komang Sunetra, the orphaned boy is a
depressed teenager. "He was once a very smart boy who often got
the top grade in his class. But since his mother died of
HIV/AIDS, he drastically changed," the uncle said.

Living in the remote village of Goris in Kerokgak district,
Buleleng, North Bali, around 200 kilometers north of Denpasar,
Sunetra said that nobody here had heard about HIV (Human
Immunodeficiency Virus) which causes AIDS (Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome) until a number of villagers contracted HIV.

According to Sunetra, his sister-in-law Kadek Widiasih was
just a modest and ordinary housewife who had never engaged in any
high-risk behavior, such as sexual relations with more than one
man. She had never injected drugs that would require her to use
shared needles. "She acquired the disease from her late husband,
painter Wayan Sulatra," Sunetra said.

Sunetra's late brother was known as the "Don Juan" of the
village who flirted with many women in the village and other
places. Sunetra's other brother Made Yasa also died of AIDS. "I
have two brothers and a sister-in-law who died due to the disease
and I have to take care of their son," Sunetra said.

Goris village is in the middle of a busy transportation route
linking Gilimanuk harbor, the gateway to Bali from Java island,
with Singaraja, the capital city of Buleleng regency.

Despite its strategic location, the village is poor, hot and
dusty. A number of cafes and food stalls standing along the route
aid the village's economy, but not without any social side
effects. Some poor but attractive girls are currently working in
those cafes offering not only food and beverages but also sexual
services to passersby, especially truck drivers and local men.

According to a study conducted by Citra Usadha foundation, a
non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of HIV/AIDS
in Bali, the number of people with HIV/AIDS in the village is 11.
In Buleleng regency alone, there are about 75 people living with
HIV/AIDS.

"Many of the people with HIV/AIDS contracted the virus because
of sexual activity," said one volunteer. Edi Suantara is just one
of the orphaned children whose parents died due to AIDS-related
illnesses. There are many more young children who have lost their
parents to AIDS. Gede Sunanjaya, six, and his sister Kadek
Susanti, four, live with their old grandmother. Their parents
also died of AIDS a few years ago.

Suryakanta foundation is currently providing support and
counseling for as many 14 children whose parents or one of their
parents have died due to AIDS in Goris, Pemuteran and neighboring
villages. Their ages range from between one and 14 years and they
are both mentally and physically devastated," explained Kadek
Carma Wiratha, a volunteer at the foundation.

Wiratha went on to say that the children are mostly living
with economically disadvantaged family members including
grandmothers, uncles or aunts who also have their own children.
"Their economic status is very low making them unable to provide
nutritious food, adequate education and a healthy living
environment for these orphans," Wiratha added.

Komang Sunetra, for example, has to work hard to take care of
Edi Suantara, his nephew, as well as his own daughter Luh Sri
Parwati. "It has been a big burden economically because I am just
a salt farmer," explained Sunetra.

The absence of real parental affection during their early
years and a healthy living environment will likely have a
significant physical and emotional impact on these children.

"Continuous support for these children is urgently needed to
help them heal during such a difficult development period," said
Wiratha. Wiratha and two other volunteers have established a
village HIV/AIDS information center in Goris village to provide
information, counseling, social and economic support for the
villagers, especially children who have been orphaned due to
AIDS.

The foundation helps pay the children's school fees and
provides meals, vitamins and a monthly medical checkup at the
local community health center.

"We realize that the assistance we provide is far from
adequate but we have been trying hard to support these children
during their vulnerable years," he said.