DAW San San, 45, was overwhelmed with emotion and tears filled her eyes. She said she could not express her happiness at having the unexpected opportunity to donate Waso robes to monks at a monastery in Yangon last week.

The donation ceremony, held on July 25 at Shinthamane Dhamma Baikman on Arzarni Road in Bahan township, was arranged by the Ratana Metta Organisation, a Buddhist group that works with people living with HIV/AIDS.

Daw San San said at the ceremony that she had joined the organisation in 2005, the same year she was diagnosed with HIV. Last Wednesday she was at the monastery with more than 150 others who had also joined Ratana Metta after discovering they had contracted the disease.

“In 2005 I did not feel very well. At first I thought I was feeling the symptoms of menopause since I was over 40,” Daw San San said. “But it took a long time to recover so my relatives told me to see the doctor.”

She said she could not believe her ears when the doctor told her she had contracted HIV.

“When I heard the news I was shocked because I knew there was no cure for the disease and I was going to die,” she said.

“As a person with only a second-grade education I had heard about HIV/AIDS but didn’t know much about it. But the doctors counselled me and told me to go to a clinic that specialised in caring for HIV/AIDS patients,” she said.

Daw San San, who is in her second marriage, said that when she heard the news she became angry at her husband because she thought he was the only possible source.

“He got a blood test and I was surprised that he did not have HIV, which was good news,” she said. “The doctor said the only other ways to get the disease were from a blood transfusion or syringe.”

Daw San San said that once she knew she was HIV-positive all she wanted to do was initiate her son into the monkhood.

“I didn’t tell anyone I had HIV except my husband. I didn’t want to tell my only son because I didn’t want to upset him while he was in the middle of his second year as a law student at Dagon University,” she said.

“I told my son to focus on his education and try hard to succeed. I told him to keep working hard and not to cry if I died because everyone dies one day,” she said.

Daw San San said she got some relief from her depression after joining the Ratana Metta Organization because she did not feel so alone with her disease any more.

Twice a month the organisation hosts a gathering where members can open up and discuss their feelings with each other.

“We encourage each other and follow the advice given by our doctors,” she said, adding that she has been taking anti-retroviral drugs for more than a year to fight the disease.

“It’s been two years since I was diagnosed and now I realise I can survive longer by listening to my doctors. My son is in his final year at school and I’m still alive,” she said with a smile.

She also thanked local and international non-government organisations that have provided her with food and financial support.

U Myint Swe – the president of Ratana Metta, which was founded in September 2004 – said that while many organisations around the world support people with HIV/AIDS with drugs and money, his group wanted to provide psychological support through the teachings of the Buddha.

“Many organizations are trying to reduce the number of infections from HIV/AIDS but instead the number keeps going up because of the risky behaviour such as having sex without a condom,” he said.

“Our aim is to control the behaviour of people with HIV/AIDS through the Buddha’s teachings,” he said. “If someone has the disease, the most important thing is to avoid transmitting the virus to others because doing so involves breaking some of the five precepts of Buddhism, which include abstaining from killing, from committing sexual misconduct and from lying.”

Robes are commonly offered to monks in the days leading up to the Full Moon Day of Waso, which this year falls on July 29. The day marks the start of Buddhist lent and commemorates the day the Buddha preached his first sermon.