Czech fairy tale screening for children from the orphanage in Phnom Penh
14.12.2021 / 13:14 | Aktualizováno: 21.12.2021 / 04:52
On 11 December, Ambassador Martin Vávra attended a projection of a Czech movie Princess Cursed in Time. This fairy tale was provided by the Embassy to the orphanage House of Family in Phnom Penh. The orphanage exists since 2004 and is administered by the School of Public Health and Social Work of St. Elizabeth in Bratislava, Slovakia. On the spot then, a Czech citizen Ms. Monika Nová is in charge. Together with its equivalent in Sihanoukville, the orphanage currently provides shelter and prepares for the future 63 mostly HIV/AIDS positive children at the age from 6 to 21 years.
HIV/AIDS is often associated with immoral lifestyles (drug addiction, polygamy) and therefore arouses more prejudice than compassion. However, this is not the case for the children in the House of Family project. The were already born positive. Cambodia had the highest HIV prevalence from all Asian countries in the 1990s. As a result of previous events (civil war, genocide, famine) the country is severely socially deprived. There is almost no social system to care for the disabled, the elderly or orphans.
The House of Family orphanage is home to the first generation of children born with HIV who, after the death of their parents, ended up on the streets or with relatives who were poor themselves. Without treatment, they would die on average in 5th-6th year of life. There are also negative children in the project, mostly siblings and cousins who have also lost their homes. Since 2008, the project has also expanded to another Cambodian city, Sihanoukville.
Source and further information about the project: http://houseoffamily.sk/en/