PREFACE
Lourdes Home provides community-based services for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Taipei City (northern Taiwan) and Taichung (Central Taiwan). It is our goal to provide care and support to people infected with the virus and improve their quality of life. In Taiwan, the increased rate of people infected jumped to 76% in 2004. The work with HIV/AIDS in Taiwan is getting to be very demanding. Most of those people newly infected are drug users. As the number of drug users infected through needle sharing has increased dramatically in Taiwan, it is challenging for our services for people with addiction and criminal records.
SERVICES COMPLETED
We operate Service Centers and Friendship Centers in Taipei and Taichung respectively. In 2004 we have completed the following services:
Case Management
The staff and volunteers visit PLWHA in hospitals, home and prisons. Some PLWHA also initiately ask us for help. In 2004 we contacted about 1,500 PLWHA, which is 26% of people living with HIV/AIDS in Taiwan. We opened cases when the clients have multi-needs. In 2004 we have 248 open cases, 91% are male and 9% are female.
The source of the clients: 33% themselves ask for help, 31% from our outreach work, 22% referral from hospitals, 14% from friends.
Services used at Lourdes Home: 54% information, 48% social support, 26% financial needs, 21% human rights issues, 18% relationships problems, 17% housing needs, 13% assistance in doctors appointments, 11% nursing needs.
We visited 1,233 times clients in hospitals.
We visited their homes 114 times.
We gave support by telephone 799 times.
We provided counseling 379 times to solve their emotional and relationship problems, and to enhance their self-worth.
We spent about US$11,700.00 to help clients in need 274 times. 60% were spent onliving expenses, 30% on rent and 10% on medical bills and health insurance premium. (InTaiwan, people infected with HIV/AIDS are offered free treatment).
43 people were admitted into our accommodation house. The clients could not afford the rent or were rejected by the family.
Hotline services
We received 431 telephone calls during the office hours. 70% are about emotional support issues. From August 2004, we provide evening hotlines services from Wednesday to Friday. We received 58 telephone calls, 50% are people infected with HIV. The other half are people enquiring information about HIV infection.
Publications and Web
We have published monthly newsletters of about 700 copies each month. We also published five booklets about self-care and three books about treatment. We translated and published “In following the footsteps of Jesus, commitment to building workshops on HIV/AIDS for Christian clergy and religious leaders?
In late 2004 we renewed our website. The web provides the information on HIV/AIDS treatment, self-care, HIV/AIDS news, activities for PLWHA, etc. All our publications can be downloaded from our web. We also have a special column for messages and Q&A. Many people ask for information or exchange opinions on our web. For those people who want to keep their HIV status confidential, the web provides a very useful function.
HIV Education
The goal of HIV education we have delivered is to eliminate discrimination against PLWHA. We gave talks and lectures 63 times to public health workers, university students, prison officers and guards, prisoners, etc. We were also interviewed by radio broadcasting stations.
We wrote 11 articles in magazines. The issues include: Building up community care model for PLWHA in Taiwan, Support groups for PLWHA, how to help PWLHA for treatment compliance? How do Christians face AIDS?
Staff Training
We believe in the importance of staff training in order to provide quality services. The staff took training courses 18 times on counseling, family therapy, case management, outcome measurement and international AIDS conferences, etc and had supervision 41 times.
We also organized five workshops for AIDS workers, especially for the knowledge and skills of working with drug users.
China AIDS Training Work
Since 2002, Lourdes Home has cooperated with German Misereor for the training of the Sisters working with HIV/AIDS in China. Sister Teresa Hsieh, the director of Lourdes Home goes to Xi-An regularly to give training and supervision to Xi-An Sisters. Lourdes Home plans to expand our training work to Shen-Yang Sisters and the Sisters in other dioceses.
Work with Prisoners Infected with HIV
In Taiwan, all the prisoners infected with HIV/AIDS are segregated and can not participate in any activities in the prisons. We recruit volunteers from different cities. Most of them are religious and Catholics. Two staff members and 14 volunteers regularly visit 19 prisons island wide. In 2004 we made 403 visits and visited about 300 prisoners. We provide HIV/AIDS information and support to prisoners and voice out for the prisoners in the situation of mal-treatment and discrimination.
This year, we cooperated with Fu-Ren Catholic University clinical psychology students. The students organized 8 sessions of group work for prisoners.
We also have a therapist to provide group counseling and therapy services.
Two volunteer counselors provide counseling to three prisoners through letters.
Friendship Centers Services
The Friendship Centers services as drop-in centers. The PLWHA can get support from workers or volunteers during opening hours. 2,787 participants visited the Friendship Center and participated in the programs run by the Centers, such as workshops on AIDS related issues, supports groups for PLWHA and families, self-development workshops, dinners and recreational activities. We organized a Christmas party at which 120 AIDS friends turned up. The AIDS friends decorated and performed at the party.
Since we are a faith-based organization, it is our goal to provide holistic services to the people. We have a memorial Mass in November. We conduct self-development workshops and weekend retreats to PLWHA in a Catholic retreat house with spiritual input. The clients used painting, clay making, drama and role-play to explore their deeper feeling and attempt to find inner strength.
Volunteers
We have about 100 volunteers to assist various services. 60 of them give direct services to PLWHA in Taipei and Taichung Office, such as services in Friendship Centers and visit prisoners. 35 of them give their time for cooking and office paperwork, 5 of them work on the evening hotline.
Financial Report
Income: US$200,674.00
Expenses: US$189,655.00
Balance: US$11,019.00
The source of income:
62% from various benefactors
24% from The Department of Health
13% from United Way, Taiwan
1% from interest
CONCLUSION
Lourdes Home has worked with HIV/AIDS since 1997. We are glad that the government and the public have gradually shown their recognition to the contribution of Lourdes Home for the caring of PLWHA. The church has appreciated our witness of services to the poorest brothers and sisters in Taiwan.
Since 2002 we opened the office in Taichung, which is the only AIDS organization in the central part of Taiwan. We are touched by the support of the health personnel, medical staff and our AIDS friends. In late 2003 we have finally recruited another social worker to work with us after 11 months?advertisement.
It has been very difficult in raising funds and recruiting professional social workers because of prejudice against people infected with HIV/AIDS. Within the restrain of the resources, we have struggled with many dilemmas: respond to the needs of increased numbers of newly infected people or deepen counseling and services for the self-development of those clients we are serving; expand our services or share our work experience; solve the practical needs of the clients or advocate for solving the origin of the problems; respond to the needs in Taiwan or do outreach to the AIDS work in China; learn to work with drug users or enhance the client groups we are focusing on. We often dream that someday we will have enough financial resources and work force to solve all these problems!
We would like to thank our committed staff members and volunteers. We are very grateful to our benefactors in their generous donations that allow us to serve the poorest brothers and sisters in Christ. In the past seven years, we have put our needs in the hand of God, we thank God for all the grace we have received which has gone beyond our pleading.