A family in the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau is struggling against discrimination after the father died of AIDS and the mother, who has HIV, tries to find work to feed her children.

Ca Thi Hinh’s husband died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome six years ago. She subsequently tested positive for the AIDS-related human immunodeficiency virus. She and her husband had two children, both of whom are healthy.

Hinh and her children

Hinh has no land to farm and cannot find work because of discrimination against people with HIV. She cuts wood in the forests to earn some money, and tries to find work as a hired labourer.

She is receiving the ARV drug treatment for HIV at a local clinic and was otherwise in good health.

In 2012, Hinh got a loan from a programme to support people living with HIV in Lai Chau Province funded by USAID to raise goats, and she was able to pay her children’s school fees and settled the loan.

However, the goats were stolen.

She got a job at a local restaurant, but a customer told the owner she had HIV and she was dismissed. Hinh found a job as a company cleaner, but again lost her job after the owner learned she had HIV.

Recently, Hinh found work at a construction site some 80km from her home, leaving her children -- aged eight and nine -- at home to care for themselves while she is away.

Hinh's health is beginning to deteriorate due to the toxicity of the drugs she is being given, and she has high blood pressure and diabetes.

Discrimination is common for people with HIV in Vietnam. It cannot be transmitted to another person except under very specific circumstances, such as through unprotected sexual intercourse or sharing blood, such as by infected needles, but many people are afraid, due to ignorance, of casual contact.