The dread of tuberculosis, doing something about it

If there’s one thing that Thais are familiar with, is referring to someone by a nickname. This is the case with two young brothers with interesting names. In the urban neighbourhood of Lad Phrao 48, 13-year-old Name and his 8-year-old brother Note, are well known in the neighbourhood.

Newcomers may wonder what all the fuss is about, but they would soon learn that these two are learning about endemic diseases from one of World Vision’s 50 TB direct observation treatment (DOT) volunteers, their grandmother Phitsamai.

Armed with crucial information, they lend little helping hands to make their community a healthier place.

Having Name and Note in the fight against tuberculosis is special. More than just children doing their daily routine at home and school, genes of volunteerism from their grandmother run through their blood.

“My family understands my work and is proud of what I do. My daughter and her two kids help whenever they can,” says grandma.

“What they do is limited, just handing out a medicine packet that I prepare and making sure that the patient takes them, but it is a big help.”

In the small living room where the family receives their special visitors, Name not only tries to learn from his grandmother, but also reads and studies the written TB materials.

Pointing to the table and walls, Name boasts, “I learn what I can from brochures and posters available here.”

Name’s enthusiasm and good spirit stems from his Thai community of about 500 families living in cramped houses from end to end, next to the black and turbid waters of Bangkok’s canal system. The family thrives in a crisscross of noodle-thin alleys.

Motorcycle taxis, bicycles, and people of all sorts buzz through the city looking like lines of hard-working ants that ply along these narrow streets day in and day out.

In this hive of activity, children who weave along the streets are vulnerable to illness in the congested neighbourhood. It is understandable that the entire community would dread an airborne disease’s stealth.

The word ‘TB’ still carries a stigma for the patients enrolled in World Vision’s Stop TB programme. In this area, they prefer to pick-up their medications during the wee hours before daybreak.

“There was a patient whom I saw every seven o’clock in the evening for six months to give grandma’s medicine pack and see to it that he drinks all of them. I had not seen him smile. But near the end of his medication, I saw his face light up and I felt good!” shared Name.

Most people are no longer contagious with active TB after they’ve taken appropriate drug treatment for at least two weeks. However, knowing the nature of TB, Grandma Pitsamai takes precautions to preserve the health of her grandsons. She has facemasks for them to use during their small act of kindness and she makes sure all materials are clean and segregated.

Grandma Pitsamai looks after the wellbeing of her grandkids as much as she cares for her patients.

“She always asks us how we feel and brings us to the health centre to make sure we are also healthy all the time.”

Note, age 8, who usually just likes to play games on the computer, now mimics his big brother. In between homework and games, he sometimes helps his grandmother.

“When my grandma is busy, I look at how Name helps her patients,” Note exclaimed.

Still, hope springs eternal in this congested neighbourhood where many vulnerable children like Name and Note live. The brothers are especially vigilant as they seek to learn more and care about others.