The Garden of Eden” is a rehabilitation community for people living with HIV/AIDS

“The Garden of Eden” is a rehabilitation community for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Even though the PLWHA were still healthy, they were rejected by their families and communities. The goal is to create a self-supporting community of people living with HIV/AIDS.

The donated 25,000 square meters of land is located in the district of Ban Khai, 40 kilometers from the Camillian Social Center in the Province of Rayong. The land was cleared and two lakes were created to provide water for irrigation. A kind benefactor bought fruit trees and these were planted around the area.

Thirty-five (35) PLWHA as well as twelve (12) children who are not HIV positive now reside here and form a little community. The eleven (11) oldest children are attending the local school.

Each of the adult members are expected to tend their own garden and provide their own food. Opened in January 2003, the project has become self-sufficient. Some residents have found employment at factories in the local area. The vegetables and fruit that the PLWHA grow are being sold in the local market. The residents are developing programs such as raising frogs, calves, ducks and pigs. The residents are also producing methane gas using the raw waste material from the pigs. Thanks to the support of IFER International, new agricultural activities are helping to encourage the residents to become more self-sufficient. This program will be extended to other associations in the South of Thailand. All these projects help to improve the quality of life for the PLWHA. Many of these programs have been negotiated and implemented with the help