Nongovernment Organizations and Civil Society

A Guesthouse Owner Discusses HIV/AIDS with Her Guests

Hanoi, Viet Nam - Nyugen Thi Mai, 40, has many poor migrants staying in her guesthouse in Phuc Tan Ward, Hanoi. As many as 20 stay for long periods while they earn money in the city to send back to the family in the village, or simply look for a job. All of them are very poor and uninformed about HIV/AIDS.

"Before 2007, I was only interested in how to get enough money from the guests who stayed in my house; I was not concerned about how they lived and what they did," Mai recalls. At one time she saw a young man using heroin. She asked him why he did that. "He very sadly answered me that when coming to Hanoi to get a job, his friend lured him into drug use. He regretted he had done this but did not know what to do," Mai says.

"I was afraid of trouble so I persuaded him to leave my house. Since then, I have always worried about guests. Sometimes I don't want to open the guesthouse, but I need money to take care of my children so I can't close the guesthouse," she says.

In 2007, an HIV prevention project started in Phuc Tan Ward, supported by the Australian Foundation for the Peoples of Asia and the Pacific (AFAP) and the Asian Development Bank. Mai attended training courses where she learned about HIV prevention and some life skills. She took some documents and leaflets to her guesthouse and introduced the topic to her guests.

She educates her guests

She tells how she played her role: "In the evening when I had time, I talked with my guests to help them understand what is HIV/AIDS and how to prevent it, how to use condoms," Mai explains.

"I know that young migrant girls are at under threat from female trafficking and sex abuse, major sources of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. So, apart from knowledge of HIV/AIDS, I also told them to be careful with strange people or new relationships, and taught them how to negotiate or refuse."

Now, her guests are very close to her. Not only do they thank her for her help, they also talk to their friends about HIV/AIDS, spreading the message further.

"I am very happy, thanks to the project. I bring more happiness to many people and receive high appreciation from Phuc Tan Ward leaders," says Mai with a smile.