AN orphanage established by a group of compassionate citizens in East Dagon township is believed to be the only facility of its kind in the country providing care to children affected by HIV/AIDS.

The members of the Happy Haven Humanitarian Project, many of whom are women doctors and writers, said they set up the orphanage to provide children infected with HIV with the love, care and attention they need.

“Our objective is to provide HIV-positive orphans with parental love and care in a familial environment,” said Dr Htar Htar, an executive committee member of the group and a writer who uses the penname Su Htar.

The orphanage, built at a cost of K10 million and funded by donations from the group and well-wishers, comprises a single-storey building measuring 30 feet by 20 feet (about 9 metres by 6 metres) where the children live and an office building of the same size.

The orphanage, which opened in January, is caring for 14 children aged between 18 months and 12 years, of whom 13 are HIV-positive. The children were orphaned when their parents died of AIDS. The other child is an HIV-negative orphan for whom the group is trying to arrange adoption.

Dr Htar Htar said the orphanage was needed because the stigmatisation suffered by those with HIV meant that relatives or other orphanages were unwilling to care for the children.

She said that as well as accepting orphaned children who are infected with HIV, the orphanage also accepts HIV-positive children with one or both parents still living but unable to care for them. Consideration is also given to accepting non-orphaned HIV-positive children on a case-by-case basis.

As well as medical care, the orphanage provides non-formal education or arranges for the children to receive a formal education at primary schools run by other orphanages. Vocational education is also provided as well as games and toys for intellectual development, health and enjoyment, said Dr Htar Htar.

Another executive committee member, Daw Than Myint Aung, who is also a writer, said the idea of building the orphanage came three years ago when the group’s doctors learned that some HIV-positive children they were treating at hospitals had been left homeless because their parents had died.

In October 2005 the group began caring for 12 children at a temporary orphanage in Thanlyin township while raised funds to build the facility at East Dagon township.

The staff at the orphanage include an administrator, four care providers, a preschool teacher and a teacher for older students.