The hotel is displaying some paintings drawn by orphans who lost their parents to AIDS. Photo: Courtesy of Park Hyatt Beijing

The hotel is displaying some paintings drawn by orphans who lost their parents to AIDS. Photo: Courtesy of Park Hyatt Beijing

 

Park Hyatt Beijing has launched a program to help underprivileged people affected by AIDS. In cooperation with the Chi Heng Foundation, a nongovernmental organization founded in 1998 and based in Hong Kong, it aims to increase AIDS prevention by targeting vulnerable groups, and caring for AIDS patients and their children.

The program, which works with Hyatt Cares under the guidance of the Chi Heng Foundation, does more than just donate money, and involves multiple sectors of the community working together to create a sustainable, viable social enterprise.

It aims to make underprivileged people self-sufficient for the future, so they can live with dignity and hope.

The slipper and laundry bags in the Park Hyatt Beijing are manufactured by people participating in the program. In addition, the hotel selects some paintings drawn by orphans who lost their parents to AIDS and will display them in the rooms on exquisite cards.

In the 1990s, blood selling became popular in parts of Central China. Several blood collecting stations operated illegally and used unsanitary practices. As a result, estimates are that as much as 60 percent of the adult population is infected with HIV in many villages.

Many parents have already died of AIDS. Those who remain live in dire poverty. They often face the heartbreaking dilemma of spending what little money they have on medication for themselves or education for their children. AIDS has also created an explosion of orphans. Most of these orphans do not have HIV, because their parents contracted it after they were born. However, these children don't have an opportunity to pursue an education. Many have dropped out of school because their remaining family members, if any, can no longer afford the fees.