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Tessie Soi is a social worker and AIDS activist in Papua New Guinea. Soi founded the Friends Foundation to support women with HIV/AIDS and has shepherded the organization through many phases, today primarily supporting children orphaned by the disease. Simultaneously, she is the Senior Medical Social Worker at Port Moresby General Hospital's Family Crisis Center.

Early life
Born Tahiti Ranu on December 27, 1959, Soi is the daughter of government department store worker Win Ranu and Hane Gari. She was born in Gabagaba village, Central Province, the third of seven children and the oldest girl. Originally names "Tahiti," after her grandmother, she later changed her personal name to "Tessie" to avoid teasing from peers.

The family was very close. They moved a lot for her father's work, living in Vanimo, Sandaun Province; Wewak, East Sepik Province; and Lae, Morobe Province. Soi learned to speak two official languages of PNG, Tok Pisin and English, before learning Motu, the local language of Gabagaba.

Education
Soi's father believed in education for his daughters, and her mother was also supportive. Both Tessie Soi and her younger sister Rogana started studying in international schools even in elementary school. Soi started at Vanimo International School in 1967, until a move to Lae in 1971 brought her to The International School of Lae (TISOL) for grades five and six. In 1973 her family moved to Post Moresby and she matriculated at Gordons High School for grades seven to ten. Due to her strong academic record, she was able to continue on to complete grades 11 and 12 at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG).

Soi began her bachelor of arts course at UPNG in 1978. Although she was planning to study to be a teacher, her friends indicated that education was a low-status major. So, Soi followed in her maternal uncle's footsteps and studied social work instead. She graduated in 1982.

AusAID awarded Soi a scholarship to attend James Cook University in Queensland, Australia and pursue a master’s in social work. She studied there from 2002 to 2004, then returned to Papua New Guinea.

Family life
Soi married, and after graduating from University of Papua New Guinea spent two years as a stay-at-home mother with her two sons. Her husband died in 1987. In 1985 she met a lawyer and they married in 1993. Sarea Soi, to whom she has been married since, brought a stepson to their marriage. They subsequently had three more children, and now have grandchildren.

Career
In 1984 she went to work at Port Moresby General Hospital, where she still works as of 2020.

When the first identified AIDS case was diagnosed at Port Moresby General Hospital in 1987 many medical workers were resistant to work with patients -- little was known about the disease or how it spread. There were no medical treatments available, so usually patients with AIDS were referred to social workers for emotional support. Often, the only assistance the hospital social workers could offer was helping people get home before they died.

Two years later, Tessie was brought back into the wards of Port Moresby General Hospital to provide counselling to a female patient with AIDS who had just given birth. -- spending time with that & providing counselling to the patient’s husband --realized HIV patients needed more love and support from both medical professionals and their own family members. -- witnessed the female HIV patient surviving beyond her predicted time of death without medical treatment because of the love and support she received from her husband.

In 1989 Soi worked for six months at Townsville General Hospital.

It was here that she started to see the ravages of HIV/AIDs on some Townsville patients, many of them drug users. On her return and with extra confidence, she felt strong enough to question prevailing wisdom about managing HIV/AIDs patients – and ask some of the ‘hard’ questions. “Remember that this was in the early days of HIV/AIDs and many people were terribly afraid of becoming infected. “There was only limited knowledge of the virus and even people in the health sector weren’t well informed.” “People wouldn’t even cook in the same saucepan as people infected with HIV/AIDs, and we were now helping three or four times as many sufferers each month as we had treated in the past”, she said. One young man she remembers well had a wife who was eventually diagnosed as HIV/AIDs positive, contracted from her previous husband.

Two years later, Tessie was brought back into the wards of Port Moresby General Hospital to provide counselling to a female patient with AIDS who had just given birth. -- spending time with that & providing counselling to the patient’s husband --realized HIV patients needed more love and support from both medical professionals and their own family members. -- witnessed the female HIV patient surviving beyond her predicted time of death without medical treatment because of the love and support she received from her husband.

"A young 26-year-old Papua New Guinean woman had just given birth and was not responding to treatment doctors had prescribed for her. She had a loving husband who upon hearing of his wife's diagnosis decided to spare her the shame. "He told her that she was traditionally sick. The doctor advised her that she would only live for two weeks and maybe a month at the most. "Her husband on hearing this decided that he would take his wife home. He confronted me with the question of how he could keep his wife alive as long as possible so she could spend time with the handsome little boy she had just given birth to. "I looked at him. We did not have any treatment but something in his eyes inspired me to say, ‘Together we can give your wife faith and hope that will make her live longer.’ "I said to him, ‘All you need to do is to give a lot of our own Papua New Guinean food and TLC (Tender Loving Care).’ "He did and she lived for eight months - seven months more than the doctor had predicted. She sadly passed away after contacting pneumonia. Her son is now 11 years old. Her husband is HIV negative."

In 1994, Tessie witnessed the slow death of a whole family due to HIV/AIDS. She describes this as a tragic loss within a family as well as a great loss to the PNG population as a whole. Moreover, this incident triggered her desire to provide support and more love to everyone infected and affected by HIV. This extended into her personal life because HIV patients were even visiting her at home for counselling during her leave days. As a result, Tessie developed a personal relationship with most patients and referred to them as friends.

In 1998, Tessie took leave of six months after 15 years of service with the department of medical social work at the hospital. However, that did not stop her patient friends from visiting her at her home for counselling. Almost every day during her leave, Tessie would have people visiting her.

Tessie’s husband and children supported her passion to help her friends. Nevertheless, the increasing number of HIV patients arriving at Tessie’s home raised health concerns and Serea was worried about their young children being exposed to TB, which many HIV patients have.

Because Serea wanted to support Tessie’s work, he assisted Tessie to register the Friends Foundation as an organization, and secured her an office with space to operate away from their family home.

In 2001, Tessie and Serea officially launched the Friends Foundation in Port Moresby --Lady Roslyn Morauta, their patron --main aim of providing care to people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS

https://www.facebook.com/112641000369970/posts/providing-essential-services-to-persons-living-with-hiv-is-challenging-enough-bu/209191850714884/

Port Moresby General Hospital
December 8, 2020 ·

Family Support Centre coordinator Mrs. Tessie Soi

Mrs. Soi said that the Friends Foundation Inc. has helped over 950 children who are on anti-retroviral (ART) treatment with 234 recorded deaths and over 300 who are on treatment.

https://www.facebook.com/KinaGroup/posts/kina-bank-is-pleased-to-support-the-friends-foundation-a-charity-that-cares-for-/1389495024545057/

Kina Bank
December 5, 2019

Kina Bank is pleased to support the Friends Foundation, a charity that cares for children living with HIV and AIDs. In support of World Aids Day, Kina Bank staff raised money for the charity and Saima Kalis, from People and Culture, presented the cheque to the director Tessie Soi.

https://emtv.com.pg/?s=Friends+Foundation+Founder+Tessie+Soi+has+received+r

19/11/2012

City Pharmacy Limited -- PRide of PNG Award for Women

[] PNG Med J 2013 Mar-Jun;56(1-2): 59 59-63 The founder of the Friends Foundation – Tessie Soi Ore Topurua

Friends Foundation, an organization that focuses on helping families affected by HIV and AIDS. Orphan Buddy Systems program, a program Tessie established to support AIDS orphans

Senior Medical Social Worker at Port Moresby General Hospital

1 PNG Med J 2013 Mar-Jun;56(1-2): 59 59-63 The founder of the Friends Foundation – Tessie Soi Ore Topurua Friends Foundation, an organization that focuses on helping families affected by HIV and AIDS. Orphan Buddy Systems program, a program Tessie established to support AIDS orphans working with people with HIV since 1987, when the first HIV case was detected in PNG. social worker renowned advocate for those living with HIV in PNG. She currently manages the social work department at the Port Moresby General Hospital and also provides substantial support to the Friends Foundation

Tahiti Ranu Born on 27 December 1959 Gabagaba village, in PNG’s Central Province. She is the third of seven children to her father Win Ranu and her mother Hane Gari. She has two older brothers Pana and Gabutu, a younger sister Rogana and three younger brothers Asitau, Rei and Asi.

named after her grandmother, Tahiti, who was named by Christian missionaries. In high school she was made fun of because of her name, and to prevent this Tahiti later changed her name to Tessie.

Father work: government department stores in various provinces--Consequently, Tessie and her siblings grew up in Vanimo in Sandaun Province, Wewak in East Sepik Province and Lae in Morobe Province.

The Ranu family atmosphere was warm and close and Tessie’s parents encouraged their children to strive for the best in life.

Win Ranu was a disciplined man who placed great value on time management and who had high aspirations for all his children.

Tessie’s mother, Hane Gari, was also very supportive of her children’s education. Growing up, Tessie learnt to speak Tok Pisin and English before learning Motu, the main language spoken by the people of Gabagaba and most Motuan villagers in the Central Province.

Family has always been an important aspect of the Ranus’ lives and, despite the distance between them, Tessie and her siblings maintained strong ties with relatives from both their mother’s and father’s sides of the family.

Win Ranu wanted his daughters to be educated --Tessie and Rogana in international schools during their primary years of education. --Tessie attended Vanimo International School from 1967 to 1970. Later, she transferred to The International School of Lae (TISOL) in 1971 when her family moved to Lae. --After completing grades five and six at TISOL, Tessie transferred to Gordons High School in 1973, where she completed grades seven to ten when her family moved back to Port Moresby. --Despite transferring from one school to another, Tessie excelled at school and consequently in 1977 she did grades 11 and 12 at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG).

In 1978 Tessie began bachelor of arts course at UPNG -- she changed her name from Tahiti to Tessie. --Tessie decided to take up social work after her foundation year instead of pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher. Growing up, Tessie had always wanted to be a teacher. As a senior student she had often provided tutorials to junior students when teachers were absent. However, this dream altered for Tessie before she streamed into her major course in the undergraduate program. --In those days, the stream of education was considered the lowest stream and, influenced by her friends, Tessie decided to take up social work instead. Social work was not a random choice, however, as Tessie was influenced by her mother’s brother who was a welfare officer. He inspired Tessie’s interest in caring for people through his continuous display of enthusiasm and commitment. In 1982, Tessie graduated from UPNG with a bachelor of arts degree majoring in social work.

After graduating from UPNG: Tessie stayed home for two years while she raised her two young sons, Pana and Rori Sitapai. First husband passed away in 1987, just three years after Tessie joined Port Moresby General Hospital. In 1993, Tessie married her current husband, Sarea Soi, --two daughters Tara and Rogana, a son Xavier and a stepson Alfred whom she regards as her own. Tessie also has three grandchildren, whom she adores. (2013)

In 2002, Tessie was awarded an AusAID scholarship to do a master’s in social work at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia. After graduating in 2004, Tessie returned to her job as a social worker at Port Moresby General Hospital.

1984 -- Tessie has been working as a social worker at Port Moresby General Hospital 2013 - manages the department of medical social work.

Decades of being a social worker in PNG have exposed Tessie to a wide range of social issues including domestic violence, child abuse and various terminal illnesses. However, it has been HIV and AIDS that have had the most impact on Tessie’s career.

In 1987, the first known case of AIDS was reported as occurring at Port Moresby General Hospital. --There was little information known about its causes and transmission route, and HIV infection and AIDS were associated with a high level of stigma and discrimination. --As described by Tessie, some medical professionals were reluctant to come into close contact with the few AIDS patients that followed the first case at the hospital, because they were afraid of becoming infected. During that time, HIV patients did not respond to antibiotics and since no treatment was available for HIV infections, physicians at the hospital could only direct HIV patients to the social work department for counselling support as there was little hope of their living for very long. As described by Tessie, all that her department could do for the first HIV patient was to arrange for his repatriation back home.

Two years later, Tessie was brought back into the wards of Port Moresby General Hospital to provide counselling to a female patient with AIDS who had just given birth. -- spending time with that & providing counselling to the patient’s husband --realized HIV patients needed more love and support from both medical professionals and their own family members. -- witnessed the female HIV patient surviving beyond her predicted time of death without medical treatment because of the love and support she received from her husband.

In 1994, Tessie witnessed the slow death of a whole family due to HIV/AIDS. She describes this as a tragic loss within a family as well as a great loss to the PNG population as a whole. Moreover, this incident triggered her desire to provide support and more love to everyone infected and affected by HIV. This extended into her personal life because HIV patients were even visiting her at home for counselling during her leave days. As a result, Tessie developed a personal relationship with most patients and referred to them as friends.

In 1998, Tessie took leave of six months after 15 years of service with the department of medical social work at the hospital. However, that did not stop her patient friends from visiting her at her home for counselling. Almost every day during her leave, Tessie would have people visiting her.

Tessie’s husband and children supported her passion to help her friends. Nevertheless, the increasing number of HIV patients arriving at Tessie’s home raised health concerns and Serea was worried about their young children being exposed to TB, which many HIV patients have.

Because Serea wanted to support Tessie’s work, he assisted Tessie to register the Friends Foundation as an organization, and secured her an office with space to operate away from their family home.

In 2001, Tessie and Serea officially launched the Friends Foundation in Port Moresby --Lady Roslyn Morauta, their patron --main aim of providing care to people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS

Although Tessie is the face of the Friends Foundation, she describes the organization as a network of reliable and hard-working people whom she can always turn to for help. Since its establishment, the Friends Foundation has been managed and operated by volunteers who are dedicated to raising funds and bringing in resources to support the organization’s program and aims. The Friends Foundation started off with Tessie’s family as the leading volunteers with her son, Rori, as the manager. Through networking and after people saw the positive contribution that the Friends Foundation was making, the number of volunteers increased to about 250 people, most of whom lived in the National Capital District or Central Province.

These volunteers assisted the Friends Foundation with its main program activity of burying the unclaimed dead bodies from the Port Moresby General Hospital’s morgue. This burial program is partially funded by the National Capital District Commission with supplementary funds coming from fundraising activities conducted by the volunteers, as well as generous donations from individuals and other organizations.

As well as burying unclaimed bodies, the Friends Foundation established the Orphan Buddy Systems program in 2005. --This program seeks sponsorship for each child who has been orphaned by HIV/AIDS due to the death of one or both parents. The program supports them financially while they remain under the care of their immediate relatives within their familiar home environment. This program was developed with reference to UNICEF’s Global Parent program which supports vulnerable children on a monthly basis through sponsorships. In addition, the development of the Orphan Buddy Systems program integrated the concept of the Papua New Guinean ‘wantok’ tradition, where close-fitting relationships between family and relatives have always allowed for an extended hand of support to other relatives in their time of need. Thus the orphans in this program continue to live with their extended relatives while receiving fortnightly financial support from the Friends Foundation. Sponsors for the Orphan Buddy Systems program are mostly generous individuals and organizations. Despite irregular funding, Tessie maintained her support for these orphans every two weeks even when she needed to use her own money. Furthermore, the Friends Foundation also provides other opportunities for these orphans to go on excursions and watch movies at the cinema – activities that they would most probably not be able to afford.

The Friends Foundation has faced challenges with obtaining sponsors or donors for some of its activities. --on parent-to-child group therapy was sadly stopped earlier this year due to a lack of financial support for the purchase of infant formula milk that supported babies born to mothers who are HIV positive. As much as the organization wanted to help infants born to HIV-positive parents, funding was the main limitation.

However, Tessie’s growing attachment towards orphans has shifted the focus of her work toward orphans. Therefore the Friends Foundation is now dedicated to assisting orphans due to the death of a parent or both parents from HIV/ AIDS.

Since its establishment the Friends Foundation has maintained close collaboration with other stakeholders in the area of health and HIV in PNG. In addition, its current primary focus on orphans has extended the organization’s network with other relevant authorities, such as the Operational Management for Child Health and Department of Community Development, Religion and Sports. With the country’s rapid population growth and prevalence of HIV/ AIDS, it is undeniable that the number of HIVrelated orphans in PNG will also increase. As described by Tessie, there is a growing need for the expansion and sustainability of the Orphan Buddy System in other provinces of PNG, which can be achieved if the program is taken on board by the government. Relevant authorities are aware that the Friends Foundation would like to see the program reach the national level; however, the organization has received minimal support so far.

Tessie also conducts awareness and education sessions for students from both the public and private education systems in PNG. And she finds these sessions most effective in terms of getting the HIV message across to the young and upcoming generation of PNG. Tessie also speaks happily about her three grandchildren and the strength they give her to keep going, day by day. Tessie is a family oriented person and loves spending time with her husband, children and grandchildren.

Discussing the things she would do to improve the lives of women in PNG, Tessie mentions education as the most important tool for empowering women to think for themselves and to have more self-value. Nevertheless, because in PNG men are seen as the dominant figure within family and society, Tessie also suggests the importance of educating men to appreciate the value of women as individuals. She also emphasizes the importance of giving women the opportunity to speak out in terms of addressing issues in PNG. Tessie further mentions the significance of forming networks among women as well as the need to establish a supportive body that stands together in addressing issues of women in PNG. Finally, Tessie also states the importance of being positive in all situations, as well as instilling positive mindsets in the younger generations in order to bring about positive change in the lives of all people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhCk7fX5g1I Pride of PNG Awards for Women 2012 Friends Foundation Founder Tessie Soi has received recognition for her work on HIV and Aids in the country. She received the distinctive award from City Pharmacy Limited's Pride of PNG Awards for Women. Her entry was among the 433 other nominations, of the six categories.

https://www.looppng.com/tags/fsc-clinical-manager-tessie-soi 2016 Family support center at PMGH – TS is clinical manager Seeing 1000 survivors of rape and domestic abuse/year – about 40/month About half of those under the age of 16, growing number of gang rapes and pedophilia cases

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/photo/200810172/tessie-soi-left-who-runs-family-crisis-center-port-moresby-general-hospital-and 2008 Tessie Soi, (left) who runs the Family Crisis Center at Port Moresby General Hospital and social worker Priscilla Agelava (center) counsel a woman who has been abused by her husband. Domestic violence against women and children is endemic in Papua New Gui

https://www.journeyman.tv/film_documents/895/transcript/ Tessie Soi has seen it coming for years. She's the social worker at Port Moresby Hospital and one of only a handful of qualified AIDS counsellors in the country. In a capital renowned for poverty and violence, AIDS is now the hospital's main cause of death. Both their families have shunned them since the diagnosis. The support from the state is almost nil. The hospital gives Thomas a place to sleep but there is no money for the retro-viral drugs that could keep him alive. 02:28	Tessie: So that's the only support we can give him. But there's nothing in place with the government agencies, nothing at all.

But the social implications for this country could be even worse. Today, Tessie is burying her second patient in two days. Vincent was a 28 year old lawyer and the mainstay of his entire extended family. His death may have condemned them to a life of endemic poverty.

In this close knit, village-based society, the loss of someone like Vincent is an agonising, devastating blow. Unlike Thomas and his wife Agata, Vincent had the love and support of his family. But he kept the true cause of his illness a secret, telling them he was dying from tuberculosis.

I don’t know whether everybody here knows what Vincent died of. Vincent is another young Papua New Guinean been claimed by this dreaded disease, AIDS, and it's sad that this type of disease if we don't try and do something about it will continue to claim our educated elite that we need for our country to keep on going. 03:28

Campbell: The family takes the news calmly, a rare sign of tolerance in a society where AIDS is a cause of shame as well as fear. 04:22	Tessie: We must make sure that we don't get it but if someone else gets it, we must make sure that we love them and care for them, because if we do that, they will live longer. So I would like to say God bless, bamahuta and goodbye, my friend.

Tessie has formed an AIDS charity called the Friends Foundation to try to raise enough funds to at least stop this, but she's still had to buy food from her own meagre wages. Tessie: … being that I believe that giving people with AIDS the support will tell others, look, don't be like me, you know, I'm going through this and it's like hell, you know. Let's try not to, you know, spread the virus out to others.

© 2019 Journeyman Pictures Journeyman Pictures Ltd. 4-6 High Street, Thames Ditton, Surrey, KT7 0RY, United Kingdom Email: info@journeyman.tv

http://www.pireport.org/articles/2000/08/02/tessie-sois-mission-care-those-suffering-hivaids-papua-new 2000 40-year-old Tessie Soi

non-governmental organization, Friends Foundation

Friends Foundation Incorporation was launched last month at the National Parliament by its patron, Lady Roslyn Morauta, the wife of the Prime Minister.

"A young 26-year-old Papua New Guinean woman had just given birth and was not responding to treatment doctors had prescribed for her. She had a loving husband who upon hearing of his wife's diagnosis decided to spare her the shame. "He told her that she was traditionally sick. The doctor advised her that she would only live for two weeks and maybe a month at the most. "Her husband on hearing this decided that he would take his wife home. He confronted me with the question of how he could keep his wife alive as long as possible so she could spend time with the handsome little boy she had just given birth to. "I looked at him. We did not have any treatment but something in his eyes inspired me to say, ‘Together we can give your wife faith and hope that will make her live longer.’ "I said to him, ‘All you need to do is to give a lot of our own Papua New Guinean food and TLC (Tender Loving Care).’ "He did and she lived for eight months - seven months more than the doctor had predicted. She sadly passed away after contacting pneumonia. Her son is now 11 years old. Her husband is HIV negative."

Despite her obvious generosity and compassion, Ms. Soi began to feel that something was missing in all her messages. "Awareness of HIV/AIDS problems was creating mixed reactions. It seemed to be bringing fear rather than support for those known to be affected by HIV or AIDS," says Ms. Soi. "Then came a whisper, ‘What about us?’ I listened carefully and heard the voices of those silent ones who were affected by HIV/AIDS. They did not have a voice, let alone a whisper to tell Papua New Guineans their side of the story. "The stories of being deserted, of being thrown out of homes, of being neglected, stigmatized and deprived of their right to have medication to live longer, as you and I would like to do, to see our children grow older.

So on September 24, last year, Ms. Soi and a group of 12 very special friends (PLWA) passed the initial Constitution and Rules of Friends Foundation Incorporated.

Among them was the late Joseph Berem, one of the courageous Papua New Guineans who publicly declared his HIV status.

Since 1997, most of her time has been taken up by PLWA and her efforts to give hope to those diagnosed as HIV positive. Sometimes she has had to use her own scarce resources to provide PLWA members with bus fares so that they could return to the hospital for counseling sessions. "Two months ago before the launch of Friends Foundation, I had to sell ice blocks and other things to raise money for those affected by HIV/AIDS. I'm very thankful to my family for supporting me in my work, which has become a family thing," said Ms. Soi. She said the launch of Friends Foundation has been a great help since many different organizations are donating funds towards the foundation to help her cause of assisting people living with HIV/AIDS. Ms. Soi says she has no regrets whatsoever in helping PLWAs. since 1989 she has counseled about 300 AIDS victims, about 75 percent of whom have already passed away.

https://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed/asset/U060/U060116c/ 16-Jan-2006 Over the last two years Papua New Guinea's AIDS epidemic has worsened. Tessie Soi, a dedicated social worker at Port Moresby Hospital has seen the deaths of 80 children who died from the virus. With UNICEF's, she now runs an organization which follows and assists pregnant mothers infected with the HIV/AIDS virus. UNICEF

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/photo/200810173/tessie-soi-outside-family-crisis-center-january-june-2008saw-119-cases-including Tessie Soi outside the Family Crisis Center. From January to June in 2008.saw 119 cases, including domestic abuse, child abuse, even suicide attempts. Forty percent are overdoses, mostly panadol but also bleach and quarter child abuse, many of them rapes.

https://www.pngaaa.org/defining-her-destiny/ 2007 known nationally for her willingness to give unclaimed babies who have died from HIV/AIDS a decent burial “I remember early in my work a frail young fellow coming into the General Hospital from Mt Hagen. He had a severe heart problem and was going to die very soon if he didn’t have an urgent operation”, she explained. “In those days, patients with complex medical problems were often transported to Australia for life-saving operations. “He was going south to have a pacemaker fitted.” “I went out to the airport two months later to pick up some returning patients. I got such a shock when this healthy young man I couldn’t recognise picked me up and did a little dance with me in his arms. I just couldn’t see in him the patient we’d sent off earlier.”

In 1989 Ms Soi was offered a six-month attachment to Townsville General Hospital. It was here that she started to see the ravages of HIV/AIDs on some Townsville patients, many of them drug users. On her return and with extra confidence, she felt strong enough to question prevailing wisdom about managing HIV/AIDs patients – and ask some of the ‘hard’ questions. “Remember that this was in the early days of HIV/AIDs and many people were terribly afraid of becoming infected. “There was only limited knowledge of the virus and even people in the health sector weren’t well informed.” “People wouldn’t even cook in the same saucepan as people infected with HIV/AIDs, and we were now helping three or four times as many sufferers each month as we had treated in the past”, she said. One young man she remembers well had a wife who was eventually diagnosed as HIV/AIDs positive, contracted from her previous husband.

In 1985, Ms Soi married a lawyer and he helped her set up “Friends Foundation”. Starting in their own home and later moving into a low-rent warehouse in Waigani, “Friends” was launched at Parliament House in late June 2001, with a focus on helping the person suffering.

In 2002 and 2003 she completed her Masters under the ADS program at James Cook University in Townsville. Returning to Port Moresby, Ms Soi at first thought that there was no need to continue “Friends” as there seemed to be enough support from other organisations. But four women came to see her one day and explained that, even though there was much-welcomed support from other organisations, there was still “something missing”. This was when she decided to re-energise “Friends”, but this time with a focus on mothers. Last year, during some of the regular PPTCT therapy sessions “Friends” runs, she and her colleagues found there were more and more grandparents coming along to sessions, as both parents had died and they were caring for the orphaned children. Many of the grandparents were very worried as they knew they were growing older themselves and would not be able to care for their orphaned grandchildren for much longer. They were too old to ensure long-term care for their grandchildren. “But “Friends” found there was an increasing number of people who wanted to help. “So a year ago we started BSP – the Buddy System Program where people who can afford it contribute 20 kina each month and pay small annual school fees to help a child’s grandparents care for the children.”

But there are so many families who need help that the Foundation has to be very specific about who it can assist. When someone comes to “Friends” for help, they will only get involved if both parents have died from HIV/AIDs, and both have died prematurely. In this way “Friends” feels it can target an area of greatest need.

https://png.embassy.gov.au/pmsb/907.html Survivors of family and sexual violence will have improved access to the legal system and support services when a nationwide training program for advocates is rolled out from June 2018.

Survivor Advocate Toolkit,

Among those who attended the session was Family Support Centre Clinical Manager Tessie Soi, who has backed the rollout of the Toolkit. Ms Soi said the guide’s simple layout and clear language would make it an extremely useful aid for the centre’s social workers and medical staff who treat more than 1000 survivors each year. The Toolkit has been developed by the Consultative Implementation & Monitoring Council – Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee in consultation with the Department of Justice and Attorney General, Office of the Public Prosecutor and Public Solicitor’s Office, and supported by the Australian Government through the Justice Services and Stability for Development Program.

https://postcourier.com.pg/family-support-centre-sees-increase-number-sexual-abuse-cases/ 2017 TS wants more supervision of children inside and outside the home Past year, 1152 child abuse cases – under 16 years old

https://www.unicef.org/aids/papuang_30714.html 2006 Around 11,000 Papuan children are currently living with HIV (source: UNICEF Papua New Guinea office).

The Friends’ Foundation enrols HIV-positive mothers – especially those who tested positive when already pregnant – in the programme for prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) at Port Moresby Hospital. “The Friends’ Foundation’s main focus is to look after the mothers once they are diagnosed [HIV-positive] and to help them through delivery and then take them home,” explains Ms. Soi. “We follow up on the children through their first 18 months.” To date she has buried 80 children who died from the virus.

only five social workers, the hospital was not able to provide the outreach services

limited availability of anti-retroviral treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea.

https://khn.org/morning-breakout/dr00056880/ Tessie Soi -- coordinator of social work at Port Moresby General Hospital and founder of the nongovernmental organization Friends Foundation -- said that she often arranges burials for HIV-positive people who are abandoned by their families because of their status. She added that in 2007, there were almost 4,000 infants orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

https://garamut.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/papua-new-guinea-addressing-the-epidemic-of-domestic-violence/ according to Tessie Soi, who runs the Port Moresby centre, in the first six months of 2008, it treated 119 cases of abuse. While they are usually referred by the hospital’s emergency department, some are walk-ins. “They include domestic abuse, child abuse, even suicide attempts,” she told IRIN. “Forty percent are overdoses, mostly Panadol but also bleach.” A quarter of the cases are child abuse, many of them rapes, she said. The centre, which has five employees, including social workers, offers trauma and crisis-management and child abuse counselling. Patients can only stay for a night and are then referred to House Ruth, which is run by the City Mission, a local NGO, or to ICRAF. Even then the maximum stay is two weeks. If no rooms are available, they attempt to find relatives to take them in.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/png-tribal-attitudes-hinder-education-on-aids-explosion/HCQJFXGPEAJEHB4U3OBH7OZJRE/

https://png.highcommission.gov.au/pmsb/MR071107.html 2007 The Australian High Commission has donated K30,000 to the Friends Foundation to help Papua New Guineans affected by HIV/AIDS, including orphaned children whose parents have died from the virus. The money was raised through the Australian High Commission ball, held last month, as well as other fundraising activities involving High Commission staff and their families. The K30,000 donation was handed to Tessie Soi, the founder of Friends Foundation, during a ceremony in Port Moresby last Friday.

https://www.pngfacts.com/news/child-abuse-alarming-in-png 2019 -- almost half the cases coming to the center are child abuse

https://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2011/06/great-lady-cares-for-the-aids-victims.html About once a quarter Tessie goes to the Port Moresby General Hospital mortuary when it is overflowing with bodies (the fridges have not been working well for years) and, along with her son and other family members, she get all the people (especially little children) who have died of AIDS related diseases and performs a mass burial at the Bomana cemetery just outside the capital. PNG AIDS story like sub-Sahara, by Maureen Gerawa

Post-Courier, 24 June 2011 “Where is the government’s role in all of this?” she asked. “If I see this (orphans caring for their siblings) in Port Moresby, what is happening in the provinces?”

https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/news-centre/news/2010/02/14/undp-administrator-visits-papua-new-guinea.html 2010 UNDP Leadership Development Program - TS participated

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-12-05/pngs-hiv-pledge-on-shaky-ground/1170252 2009 Papua New Guinea's government has pledged to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

But that goal is looking increasingly unattainable after the country's major source of funding for anti-retroviral drugs dried up. Global Fund (National Aids Council) rejected PNG's application for more money in its latest round of funding. PNG only has itself to blame for the funding knock back....

Every week young women come to the Friends Foundation in Port Moresby to eat a free lunch and to collect milk formula for their children. They are all HIV-positive and so are their young ones.

Its founder and director, Tessie Soi, says last year they helped 50 kids and their parents.

She says this year the demand on their services has more than tripled.

"With the numbers that I'm seeing at 150, like 11, 12 months, I'm very worried about that figure," she said.

In PNG around 10,000 people receive subsidised anti-retroviral therapy (ART) - drugs that suppress the disease and allow them to live longer.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/223522/call-for-funeral-assistance-in-png-cities 2013 The comment comes as the authorities in the capital prepare to mass bury 60 bodies of people who died at Port Moresby General Hospital and have been in the morgue for more than a month.

Most of the dead are victims of HIV/AIDS and the founder of a non-governmental organisation that cares for children orphaned by the disease says stigma around infection remains.

https://pacificwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/FSVAC-Newsletter-May-Issue-13.pdf May 2018 Sponsor a child program