Students have learnt about HIV and AIDS from a man who
launched a special home for children with the illness. Fr Giovanni Contarin
recently came to Assumption College Sriracha to talk about the disease. He
runs the Camillian Social Centre in Rayong, which cares for children and
adults who are HIV positive.
Lesson
for Life: Fr Giovanni Contarin talks to Assumption’s English Programme
students about HIV and AIDS.
Mathayom 1 students in the English Programme (EP) learnt
about HIV and AIDS in their lessons, ahead of World Aids Day on December 1.
Fr Giovanni then agreed to come and talk to the youngsters about the work he
does.
He met both the EP classes in Mathayom 1 and spoke about
prevention and protection. He also told students about the effects of HIV,
and how they could prevent themselves from being infected.
Suda Mongkolsit, head of the English Programme at
Assumption said, “We are always looking to make lessons as interesting and
relevant as possible, and having Fr Giovanni visit our school was a great
bonus. Students greatly benefited from the visit and the HIV lessons.”
EP teacher Mark Beales said, “I have known Fr Giovanni
for some time and we talked about doing some HIV/AIDS lessons in school. Fr
Giovanni kindly agreed to come and talk to the students, and they were
delighted and fascinated to hear from him.”
Fr Giovanni brought several gifts for the students,
including a 2006 Camillian calendar, Christmas cards, and leaflets.
After the visit, students read a book which was written
by some of the HIV children. The book, Bridge of Hope, is published in
English and Thai and tells several poignant tales of what it is like for
children living with HIV. It is available from selected book stores in the
Pattaya area.
All the Mathayom 1 EP students were impressed by the
visit.
Puchong Nakrong said, “I liked Father Giovanni because
he was so kind, and he helps everyone with HIV/AIDS. He taught us about HIV
and about how to protect ourselves.”
Nuttapoom Vongthiwan said, “Father Giovanni was
friendly and he was a funny speaker. I learned what the HIV virus is and how
you know if you have HIV.”
And Donlawat Jantaramporn added, “Father Giovanni was
kind and he gave us knowledge about HIV and AIDS.”
Fr Contarin launched the Camillian Social Centre ten
years ago. It treats people with HIV and AIDS, and holds training courses
for workers in the area.
Assumption runs EP classes in most of its year groups. EP classes offer
intensive English language training with fully-qualified native speakers.
