NGO, ‘Rejoice’, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, is committed to supporting people of any ethnicity, religion or age who are living with HIV. They provide medical, social and educational support, counselling programmes and community initiatives. They came to Global Hand because, along with this range of services, they have established the ‘Buddies Society of Ipoh’ with the goal of providing comfort to kids affected by HIV. Whether they are HIV+ themselves, or have lost a parent to HIV, or both, the reality is that their lives will now never be the same. The Buddies Society hand makes bears as a gift to these children, providing them a ‘buddy’ in their pain.  We supported ‘matches’ for these Buddy Bears and saw them reach HIV affected kids (see main photo below) through the NGO, Sevac, in Uganda.