The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

Written by Mai Anh D.

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

Once upon a time, in a far far away country, in a

peaceful farmhouse, and not far of under some great

burdock leaves, sat a duck waiting for her eggs to

hatch.

At last one shell broke and then

another, and a living creature

came out of each crying “Peep,

peep”. Duck mother happily

welcomed them to the world.

But there was the largest egg

not hatched.

Duck mother decided to sit on it a

little longer. At last the largest egg

cracked and out came the young

one. It was very big and very ugly.

It had a pale color and looked so

different from other ducklings.

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

hose children are strange from other

children .

Just like the “ugly duckling”,

they was born with that difference.

Just like the “ugly duckling” cannot choose its color,

They have no choice to decide their fate

And, just like any “duckling”, they need love, care

and protection.

Hardly you realize the fact that they are HIV-

positive children.

T

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

There are 20 HIV children in Mai Hoa Nursing

House. The oldest is 15 and the youngest is 2 years

old. Some have lived there for a long time since

they were just a baby. Some have just come.

Some still remembered the very first day they

came to Mai Hoa, and why they lived here. But,

most of children don’t know how they lived in this

place, they just know that they have been brouhgt

up here since a very very long time ago.

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

And as day by day went on, the

ugly duckling was driven about

by everyone because he was so

ugly, and even his brothers and

sisters said they was sorry he had

even been born. “Stay away from

him!”, other ducklings said, “He

is so ugly, he could not belong to

our family”.

Even others: the old chicken,

talkative turkeys, selfish cows

and dogs felt annoyed that

he was ugly. They tried to

keep their children away

from the ugly duckling .

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

oday, we have chance to visit Mai Hoa

Nursing House. From Saigon, it takes us

about 2 hours travelling by bus . Arriving at 2 PM,

really hot and exhausted, we find something to

drink.

Enjoying cold and fresh Coke together, we ask

the man come here with us: “How far is it from

here to Mai Hoa?”. “About 1 km. We can walk”, he

said confidently as he has come Mai Hoa many

times before and understand this special nursing

house so well. “How is the kids?”, someone wonders.

“Wonderful! They are very cute!”, he smiles. “Do

they go to school? Can they read and write?”,

T

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

taking a sip of coke

we ask. “Of course,

some volunteers come

and tutor them!”, he

pauses a little and

continues , “you

know that…They

can’t go to schools for

normal children”.

With a sad

expression , he tells us: “They have spent most of

their childhood and they nearly never go

outside…”.

“Is it safe to us when we

play with them?”, a girl

worries. Some others seems

quite stressful, they are a bit

scary. “What happen if some

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

accidents occur when we play with them?”, a boy

confused.

Yes, even some of us -

who volunteer to visit

this nursing house, who

have studied very well

about HIV, who have

read from many sources

that HIV can’t pass from

one person to others easily as flu – still worry when

interact with HIV children. But, it is reasonable.

To most of us, this is the first time we meet HIV

children. We just read information in book or

internet, or someone told us before.

The matter is that even us who have a very

good knowledge about HIV feel a little scary when

interacting with them. So, what about other

people? What about the attitude of them to HIV

children? We always say that we should help them

HIV can’t spread easily as flu

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

and treat them as any normal children. However,

we can’t deny that there is still a space between

our community and them. And, it is not easy to

erase that gap.

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

One day, Duck mother took her

ducklings to the pond and taught

them swimming. The ducklings

were taken down to the water,

and one by one the young ones

jumped in after Duck mother and

swam about quite easily.

They looked back and realized that the ugly

duckling had not jumped down the water

yet. “Haha…Look! He’s so ugly to swim!”

“Be brave, duckling!”, Duck mother

said. Being encouraged, the ugly

duckling jumped. The water

supported him. Soon, he felt

comfortable and waved his legs. The

ugly duckling was swimming. Duck

mother smiled proudly: “Maybe

you’re ugly but you’re very brave. You

can do anything”

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

Finally, we place our first steps over the big

gate of Mai Hoa Nursing House.

The hot sun makes everything

melt, but inside Mai Hoa

garden, it is cool and

comfortable as there is a shadow

of very big trees. The atmosphere

is so peaceful and fresh.

As very familiar

background in fairy tales,

behind the trees, many

colorful and beautiful houses

appears. That’s where our angels living.

Welcome us is the cheerful

sound of many children. The

angels wave hands and smile

at us.

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

In this lovely Sunday, we will have wonderful

time with four wonderful children: Chau, Thanh,

Danh and Tai.

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

Sitting in a round at a comfortable corner of

their daily classroom, we ask them: “Do you know

the tales about the ugly duckling?”. They shake

their head. “Do you want to listen to this story?”.

They nod.

We bring out the draper puppets

we have prepared. Children are

very excited, they are attracted by

the tiny duckling puppets.

“Will you take part in our

performance today?”, we

ask. “Yes, of course”, Chau

answers cheerfully while

Thanh laughs happily.

Danh smiles but he is too

shy to say anything. Tai

doesn’t ever smile and

doesn’t say anything too.

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

Chau vonlunteers to be the teller. She is very

confident cause she is very good at reading classes

and can read the script we prepared excellent.

Danh and Thanh look forward to be the lovely

yellow ducklings. Finally, we turn to Tai: “Ok. Tai.

Can you play the role of the ugly duckling?”

And, we start the story about “the ugly

duckling”, but it isn’t the orginal version of

Andersen. The story about “the ugly duckling”

today is retold by us,

with different details

and different ending.

The ugly duckling is not

lonely in his adventure

anymore. There are

many others support

him. At the end, the ugly

duckling doesn’t become

the swan. But, he doesn’t have to become a swan to

be loved. Still be the ugly duckling, he defines

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

himself by never giving up, always trying his best

and others begin loving the ugly duckling

because of his beautiful personalities. About the

dream of being a swan, it is still a question of

future. Who knows the ugly duckling can become

the swan or not?? Just believe, everything can

come true.

Chau reads the script

very well. Her voice is really

emotional and clearly.

Danh and Thanh play the

role of duckling excellent.

They say: “Peep…peep” as

lovely ducklings and move

the puppets in their tiny

fingers.

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

The most surprise is that the ugly duckling of

Tai is perfect. His voice is low and silent but

perfectly matches with the ugly duckling. At first,

we must help him at some lines. After that, he does

great! Together, we have a wonderful

performance.

The children are very happy that our

performance is successful. And, the moment we

give each other a high-five to congratulate is

unforgettable. Just simply fanstastic. We and the

children are a perfect team!

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

Now, the children are able to tell the story

about the ugly duckling. We

give the puppets for them.

Chau promises that she,

together Thanh, Danh and

Tai, will practice and

organize the play

themselves. They will have their own wonderful

performances for other children at Mai Hoa. So

that, every children here will hear the story about

the brave ugly duckling.

Through the story, we told the children:

“Always believe and try your best. No matters who

you are, the happy ending always exist for you”.

And now, also through the same story, but

different perfomers, the children will told that to

other children.

After that, we

come outside the

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

garden. The children want

to draw. We’ve bought some

color pencils for children,

so we give to Chau. She

thanks us and run inside

and put our gifts into a

small wardrobe. She says: “I place here so other

brothers and sisters can share together”. That

makes us think about love. The love among those

small children is so touching.

Thanh draws a lovely duck in the white paper

and shows us: “The ugly duckling”. She smiles

sweetly. Danh and Tai also love drawing. After

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

finishing their wonderful work, they turn to play

with colorful clay.

Children have played and

shared with us about their

lives, their daily schedule. Every

day they do so many useful

things: sweeping the yard,

cleaning the floor… They told

us about their classes and

meals…It seems that they are

having a

happy time together. They also

sang “ Vọng cổ teen” – a very famous teen song at

this time. They might be brought up carefully and

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

have chances to learn many things like: singing

(they know many kids songs, also Christmas and

new year songs) and dancing (they have teacher

teach them how to dance and they’ve been to

many places to perform ). They sing some songs for

us. The last person to come and sing is Tai. He’s so

quiet that we even thought that he wouldn’t sing

for us as other. However, he stands up and sing

The butterflies song.

So grateful that those children have a peace

place to grow up, to learn, to live , to love and be

loved.

Before going there, many people told us that

HIV children are full of sadness, they are aware of

their fate and close to other people. We usually

read so many sad stories about them. So today, we

want to show you a new side of their life: a

brighter and more positive side. Those angels are

totally cheerful and carefree. They’re so brave that

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

in spite of their fate, they can do many things and

do very well.

They may consider this

life as a toy, and they play

with it in their own way,

which make them feel

comfortable and have a

better look about this life.

We think so, and i believe it!

They make me a little bit ashamed. We were

sometimes depressed and had negative thinking,

complained about our situation while we are far

lucky than a lot of people. They make me think

about happiness. Happiness is just simple that

when we’re satisfied with our life, we’re happy.

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

One day, the ugly duckling

stood beside the pond. Suddenly,

he realized his reflection on the

water surface.

In front of him, it was the image

of the duckling which looked

totally different from other

brothers and sister. It had a

long, slender neck and ugly

white color. Now, the ugly

duckling knew why everyone

stayed away from him. He felt so

upset and started crying.

However, duck mother came and stand by him: “May

be you’re ugly but you’re a good duckling…”

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

One of our missions is asking them about HIV.

However, when playing with them, we nearly

forget that they’re HIV children so we also forget

that mission. With us, they’re not HIV children.

They’re just simply children: lovely and carefree.

And, you know that: “Nobody ask a normal kid

about HIV”

Even if we remember, when looking into these

innocent eyes, we aren’t brave enough to ask them

about HIV. Fortunately, other groups share with

us some stories about the children that we reveal

that the HIV Children’s world is not only pink!

There is a boy, name Nghia. He is very

thoughtful and mature at his age of 9. He’s aware

of HIV and his positive status. He knows 3 ways HIV

spread and understands deeply how to protect

himself and other people around.

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

Some children tell their past, about the day

their parents left them. They are carefree and

innocent but they still remember and understand

their fate.

About our Tai, he

doesn’t say anything to

us about his sorrow.

However, we can feel

something like sadness

in his eyes. As we say

before, he’s quiet and

never smiles. His face was

like that he nearly shed tears.

When we ask Chau :“What’s wrong with him?”.

She said that: “He’s sad though he’d come here for

a long time”. We don’t want to ask more as we

know the reason why. What is the feeling this a

little boy have to bear? He reminds me of sorrow in

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

this life. Life is colorful and it has dark color also.

It needs bravery to get out of the dark, throw away

the sorrow to live with all our energy. Hope

someday he will become a little sunshine just in

his world and to some other people.

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

The ugly duckling looked further

and saw a couple of swan

swimming. He turned to Duck

mother and asked: “Mom. Who

are they? They’re so beautiful!”

“They’re swans”, Duck mother told

tenderly, ”They’re the most

beautiful in the world”.

“I want to become a swan

someday”, the ugly duckling said.

But, after a pause, he confused:

“But, I’m so ugly. I will never

become a beautiful swan!”.

Duck mother smiled: “Nothing is

impossible, duckling!”

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

“What is your dream?”, we ask

our angels. Chau says cheerfully: “I

want to become CEO”. “And you?”, we

turn to Danh. “I want to become a

pilot”.

So lovely! As any other children,

they have their own dreams. Just

like the dream of the ugly ducklings.

Another group also asks

their boy the same question.

This boy says that he want

to become an engineer,

however he knows it’s hard.

When we hear this story, we

feel really upset for him.

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

Nothing is impossible. Someday the ugly

duckling will become a swan.

Because in the original story

of Andersen, actually the

largest egg in the duck’s nest

is a swan eggs and the ugly

duckling has been a swan

since he was born. Others

didn’t realize that and the ugly duckling needed

time to grow up to become a beautiful swan. We

believe that in the future we will have a CEO, a

pilot and an engineer from Mai Hoa.

Do you believe?

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

Day after day, the ugly duckling is still the ugly duckling.

However, everyone started to love him because he was nice,

hard-working and never gave up

The ugly duckling

didn’t have to become a

beautiful swan to be

beloved. His warm-heart

was much more

beautiful than

anything in the world,

and much more

important than a good

looking appearance.

The ugly duckling had a happy and meaningful life with

his Duck Mother and other brothers, sisters. Nobody knew

if his dream of being a swan became true or not. It’s the

question of future. As long as the ugly duckling believe,

his dream is possible.

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

Time runs so fast and we have to come back

home. We feel a half happy because today we have

a good time with the children, however a half

unsatisfied. We feel that we haven’t done enough

for these wonderful children and we want to do

more.

The children follow us until we reach the big

gate. “Say goodbye, angels”,

we say. Chau smiles when

waving the duckling puppets:

“I will give other children a

wonderful performance…”,

then she calls our names

again, as to say that she will

never forget us.

Thanh and Danh are attracted by many new

toys but they waves at us. Suddenly, we saw Tai

stand silently. “Tai!”, we waved him, “Do you want

to take a picture?”. And, that quiet boy come to us

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children

and smiles - The first time he smiles at us. The

most beautiful smile in the world!

“Now, do you feel scary any more?”, the men

ask the girls and boys who were afraid of at the

beginning. “Not at all”, they say firmly, ”the kids

are so cute and lovely”. “Yes”, someone agrees, “I’ll

come back there next vacation”.

That’s right. The ugly ducklings don’t have to

change their appearance or anything belongs to

them. Just the way they are, people will have to

love them.

The ugly duckling – Or the story about HIV children