Baan Gerda

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BaanGerda is a non-profit in Thailand that cares for AIDS orphans. It runs as a project of the Bangkok-based Children's Rights Foundation and supports more than 70 children who were born with HIV after their parents died of AIDS. The organization has no political or religious ties. The children’s homes sit on land donated by a well-known monk in Lopburi province, about 230 kilometers north of Bangkok. Instead of a state orphanage, BaanGerda uses family-style homes with foster parents who are also HIV positive, so they understand what the children are going through. It is the only program of its kind in Thailand.

Founders Karl and Tassanee Morsbach had previously built five schools on the Thai-Burmese border. They opened the first BaanGerda home in 2001 with their own money to ease the children's suffering. When antiretroviral (ARV) medicine became available, the children could live more normal lives, and the project expanded with funds from Thailand and abroad. In 2006, Karl and Tassanee received Germany’s Grand Cross of the Order of Merit for their humanitarian work.

BaanGerda includes an infirmary with six beds, a guesthouse, an administration building, and an activities building called Kinderstern. Kinderstern was funded by the Kinderstern art project created by German artist Imi Knoebel. The carpentry and sewing workshops give parents worthwhile jobs and help the families earn extra income, while teaching valuable skills to the children. A medical team provides ARV medicine and regular tests, with careful medical records, and the nearest hospital is 35 kilometers away. The children attend a local school that follows the national curriculum as part of a King’s Project to educate disadvantaged youths.