I think my life has really changed. I started using heroin in 1999 and unknowingly contracted HIV.
When under compulsory rehabilitation at the Center for Social Education and Labor, I was transferred to Hospital 09. At that time, I was on the verge of death.
Everyone thought I would hang on for only a few more days. But a few years ago, I began receiving substitution treatment with methadone. Me becoming like I am today is all thanks to the care of hospital staff.
At the hospital, I have received great mental support from the counsellors. Only to them can I share stories that I would never tell anybody else, all my worries and pains, without being judged.
Since then, my health has clearly improved, people trust me more. I usually help out with housework and I also work as a motorcycle taxi driver to increase my income. Besides, I also take the kids to school and take care of them. My family has also become closer.
My life now is like a dream. I wish for nothing more because I never thought I would be like today.
Supporting Community Development Initiatives (SCDI), a local Vietnamese NGO and a member of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, commissioned Hoang Hai Vuong to take these photo stories. The exhibition was also supported by Expertise France.
It was first shown at 09 Hospital (a hospital for people living with HIV in Hanoi), and has also been shown at Hanoi Medical University as well as several universities and organisations.
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