By Katsuhiro Asagiri and Rosario Liquicia
PHNOM PENH (INPS Japan) – Seedling of Hope, a Catholic charitable organization in Cambodia, works on two fronts in response to HIV/AIDS. It conducts awareness-raising activities among the general public and high-risk groups, while also providing counseling to people living with HIV through visits to homes and hospitals. ｜JAPANESE｜
The organization also operates its own shelter and hospice, where it offers both emotional and physical support to AIDS patients. In a country where 95 percent of the population is Buddhist, Seedling of Hope has built its work around a simple principle that transcends religious difference: respect for human dignity.
What follows are excerpts from an interview with Fr. Jim Noonan, whose reflections shed light on the realities of HIV/AIDS in Cambodia and the challenges that remain.
What AIDS Patients Need Most
“The psychological burden borne by AIDS patients is almost beyond imagination,” Fr. Noonan said.
“Social prejudice against AIDS remains severe, and people living with HIV often go to great lengths to conceal their illness out of fear of discrimination and persecution. But here, in this shelter, everyone accepts them knowing their condition. Those who are HIV-positive and those who are not live together naturally, like one family.”
He believes that such an environment — one that relieves emotional stress — is itself a vital part of care.
“I believe this kind of living environment is an important factor in helping patients maintain and improve their immune systems. In fact, the health of the people here generally improves after they arrive. I continue to be struck by how much the human body can recover when the surrounding environment is right.”
Although the staff are not professionally trained counselors, Noonan said they try to care for each resident with love and with constant attention to that person’s dignity.
“Our guiding principle is to treat everyone equally. In other words, our attitude toward the residents would not change in the slightest even if the person standing before us were Her Majesty the Queen.”
Resources, however, remain painfully limited.
“At the hospice, we have only vitamins and a few medicines for opportunistic infections. The reality is that Cambodia has no AIDS drugs available,” he said. “If donor governments or international organizations were to ask what Cambodia needs most right now, I would say without hesitation: first, high-quality blood-testing facilities; and second, facilities capable of producing AIDS medicines locally.”
Human Dignity Beyond Religious Difference
Noonan was clear that his work is not about conversion.
“I am nothing more than an old man trying to help people who need help,” he said. “I am a priest, but I do not try to convert people here to Christianity. They have their own religion, rooted in their own values, and I have my own faith. For me, it is enough to put my faith into practice through concrete acts of service for AIDS patients.”
Compassion, he said, belongs to no single religion.
“To treat those in need with kindness is a human act that transcends religious difference. When an AIDS patient is dying, I pray in my own way, while Buddhist Cambodians offer prayers in theirs. There is no discomfort arising from those differences. When someone is near death, I tell the patient that I would like to pray for her, and they are always happy to accept the prayers of someone from another faith.”
What Can Overcome AIDS
Noonan also spoke bluntly about the social realities surrounding sexuality in Cambodia.
“I believe the current situation surrounding women’s sexuality in Cambodian society is deeply distorted,” he said. “Men’s attitudes toward sex are often crude and objectifying, and women’s sexuality is treated almost as if it were a thing stripped of personhood — something to be manipulated, abused or deceived.”
Among some men, he said, having relationships with multiple women is wrongly seen as proof of masculinity. Some even boast openly about sexual abuse or exploitation.
“To transform such distorted sexual attitudes and behavior within a single generation is probably close to impossible,” he said. “But what matters is to begin working toward behavioral change as soon as possible.”
That effort, he argued, must begin early.
“What Cambodia needs today is sex education from an early age. In 1996, UNAIDS developed a long-term strategy aimed at changing young people’s sexual attitudes and behavior. The message was clear: the longer we delay addressing young people, the greater the risk that the AIDS crisis will become irreversible.”
“The environment surrounding young people in Cambodia is now so serious that there is no time to lose. I am convinced this is precisely the moment to begin comprehensive sex education.”
He added that parents must also be better equipped to talk with their children.
“If we are to foster healthy attitudes toward sexuality among young people, we must also strengthen parents’ ability to explain these issues. We need to create an environment in which parents can engage seriously with their children, so that sexuality can be understood within the broader context of human relationships.”
For Noonan, one moral principle remains central.
“In other words, what overcomes AIDS is faithfulness,” he said. “To value one’s own life and that of one’s partner, it is important to avoid premarital sexual relations as much as possible. And where that is not possible, sexual relations should be limited to the one person to whom one has made a lifelong commitment.”
Religion as a Partner in Prevention and Care
Noonan believes religion can play an important role in Cambodia’s HIV/AIDS response.
“Cambodian Buddhism was banned and brutally persecuted during the Pol Pot period, but Buddhism has traditionally occupied a central place in Cambodian society, and Buddhist monks continue to command deep respect among the people,” he said.
“Religion has long taught values such as faithfulness, along with other principles that help protect people from HIV/AIDS. I believe it can be an important partner in the response.”
He noted that the Cambodian government has increasingly recognized this and, in recent years, has actively involved monks in HIV/AIDS prevention efforts.
“Since around 1995, our organization has held repeated discussions with monks, community leaders, NGOs and others on how religion can be mobilized in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and we have learned a great deal from that process.”
How Seedling of Hope Works
With a staff of eight and four volunteers, Seedling of Hope conducts HIV/AIDS education sessions twice a week for members of the public and factory workers, distributing condoms as part of those activities.
“The most important thing is to save the people in front of us,” Noonan said. “To do that, I believe the Catholic Church, too, must respond flexibly to local needs.”
The shelter houses AIDS patients who are still capable of caring for themselves but can no longer work in mainstream society. As far as their health permits, residents are assigned to small work groups engaged in activities such as sewing. The aim is to prevent them from falling into despair while also giving them a sense of pride in contributing to society.
The hospice, meanwhile, has twelve beds and a six-person staff on duty around the clock. It cares for terminal AIDS patients who have no family support, accompanying them through the final days of their lives.
INPS Japan