Second Stop: EUNIME

An Orphanage/Shelter for children and their families who live with HIV and AIDS. The women who head the center are Juana Ortiz Quezada and her sister Rosalva. As Juana greeted us we wanted to first learn about the center and see if we would be able to meet with the children. She explained to us the reasons for this center and the importance of educating families, parents and children of the disease. Juana and Rosalva discovered that their younger sister, Eunice had contacted the virus when she was 6 months. She died at 4 years old because at that time there was no medicine or proper knowledge of the disease. Juana and Rosalva searched on their own and fought to find the proper care. Naomie, their other sister, was the first child from Tijuana able to participate in a protocol through PACTG. She conveys to us how proper education will help all people affected with the virus to live a good life. The government pays only for the children’s medication month, which covers the basic medicine. But they have over three thousand dollars per month in expenses including food, school, and basic needs. And that’s where we come in.

We met the children but were not allowed to take photos of the children as to respect their confidentiality. Due to lack of education, there is a notion of shame associated with this disease. Also due a to lack of education, many children with the virus would die because he or she would stop taking the medicine once he or she would feel better. In order to help the children and families understand the importance of the treatment they used a unique story: “In all of us there is a good king and a bad king. And in order for the good king to always be strong the child must take the potion all the time.”Seems very simple to understand in those words. Even as we were playing with the children we couldn’t help but notice how in their imaginary stories, when playing with their dolls they asked their dolls to take the potion in order to be always strong! With proper food and medication and education there is great HOPE. Our Foundation’s mission is to inform and to educate in order to save lives, as well as helping lives by supplying the basics needed for survival.