VietNamNet Bridge – Sunflower is the name of a group of women who are HIV-carriers who do not surrender to the fatal disease.

The rate of women who are infected with HIV from their husbands or boyfriends is on the rise. Many of them are accused of having adulterous relationships and are driven away from home. Some of them have attempted suicide. Some lost their husbands when they have just had a baby… Their stories are told through pictures and objects exhibited at the “Sunflower” exhibition. The event is held by the Museum of Ethnology and the Netherlands-Vietnam Health Committee in Hanoi.

HIV women reveal the joys, sadness

Stories about the lives of HIV positive women and children in northern Viet Nam are being featured in video clips, photos and personal items at an exhibition entitled Nhung Doa Huong Duong (The Sunflowers).

The exhibition was designed by members of Sunflower groups in Ha Noi, Quang Ninh, Yen Bai and Thai Nguyen, which are all run by and for women living with HIV. The groups, supported by the Medical Committee Netherlands – Viet Nam, bring about 1,200 women, children and caregivers together to share, learn and support each other.

Visitors to the exhibit are being offered an insight into the experiences of these women and their families, the joys and sadness they share, the challenges they face and the hopes they have for the future.

The photos feature the daily lives of people living with HIV and their message for others. One photo shows Trieu Thi Quynh from Thai Nguyen Province cooking and her son drawing a picture. The caption reads: "Members of my family loved me so much but they were afraid of infection. They wore masks and gloves when taking care of me. Wherever I went, I had to wear a mask and gloves and did not dare to look at anyone. Those days were full of tears and darkness."

Ngo Thi Lien from Yen Bai Province's Tran Yen District said in tears: "Speaking in public is a very hard fight for me. Stigma is everywhere, not only in the countryside but also in the city. My neighbours still do not know that I am HIV positive. They only see that I have overcome difficulties for a better future."

Women from Thai Nguyen Province created a work of questions and answers for the exhibit. Questions such as: "Can HIV be transmitted through deep kisses?" One answer was: "HIV could be transmitted through deep kissing." Or "Can children with HIV go to school?" with the answer "Yes". They have the same rights that other children do." These questions and answers equip readers with useful knowledge and information about HIV.

Objects featured at the exhibition tell their own tearful stories, including a teddy bear owned by Tran Van Hung from Thai Nguyen Province who has been alienated from friends because of HIV and considers the toy as his closest friend. Quynh's exhibit of clothes reminds her of a time her sister bought a new wardrobe to avoid infection while sleeping pills remind Nguyen Thi May from Ha Noi about the time she bought them to commit suicide.

After taking in the exhibition, Banh Thi Nhung from Ba Dinh District said: "The exhibit is very good for everyone, both uninfected and infected people. People without the disease will learn how to prevent it while HIV positive people who still hide their disease have gained the courage to publicise the disease and participate in the group. I hope that the organisers will hold the exhibition in cities and provinces in the countryside, not only in the capital."

As part of Viet Nam's National Action Month for HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control 2011, the show contributes to the goals of Three Zero's campaign: zero new infections, zero AIDS related deaths and zero stigma and discrimination.

The exhibition, organised by the Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology and the Medical Committee Netherlands – Viet Nam, aims at helping people better understand HIV/AIDS and its impacts and reducing stigma and discrimination regarding the epidemic.

It will run until December 30 at Mai Am May 19 Centre, 123 Nghia Dung Street.


My family loves me very much but they are afraid of getting HIV from me. They took
 care of me while wearing gloves and masks. I also had to wear mask and gloves
whenever I go out. I did not dare to see anyone. Life was dark and full of tears those
days,” recalled Quynh, 36, from Thai Nguyen province.





May, from Hanoi, brought to the exhibition various kinds of sleeping pills.
May said she lived in darkness when she knew that she carried HIV.
She wanted to die. In many sleepless nights, she wrote his confidence in her diary.





“Before she died, she told me: ‘mum, hold me tight. I feel hurt in
my stomach. Please rub my stomach.’ She was dead several hours later.
I held my daughter. My eyes were dim. I only wanted to die for my daughter…,”
said Giang, 35, from Yen Bai province.





HIV carriers often have to suffer from abandon and disregard of others. Their
 families also suffer from bad reputation. This teddy is the closest friend of Hung,
 a little boy in Thai Nguyen who carriers HIV.






This is a pot of sunflowers of Lien, from Yen Bai province.
“Previously, I did not think that I could stand up to tell others about myself
and about people who carry HIV like me. This is a hard struggle. HIV is not
 a big thing. It is only a disease. Let’s sympathize with us!” Lien said.






Phuong, from Hai Phong city has been living with HIV for ten years, so she
 understands very clearly the pain of discrimination.

VNS/VNE