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Thai children: Deutsche's
bankers in Asia are looking
to combat the spread of
HIV/Aids among rural hill
tribes by sponsoring health
education
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Investment bankers are used to pitching
for business in far-flung places. But even for such old pros as
Deutsche Bank's Ken Borda and Jeremy Paul, the hill tribes of
northern Thailand must have seemed an unlikely venue.
Even less likely was the audience
facing Deutsche's Asia ex-Japan CEO and chairman of global markets
– 200 villagers on the floor of a bamboo village hall who gathered
to see Borda and Paul launch a new charity.
The Deutsche Bank Asia Foundation has pledged e5 million to
provide support and education for HIV/Aids-affected orphans. Two
million children in Asia have lost parents to the virus, according
to UNAIDS.
The charity will fund education for 80 Thai orphans as well as
providing vocational training in schools and health education for
hill tribes. The Deutsche bankers met orphans and their guardians
in Mae Saui, a village with an estimated HIV/Aids infection rate of
15%.
With a lack of health education, many children from the village
sent to cities are vulnerable to the risk of HIV infection, a
problem that Deutsche intends to fight with the health education
programme.
The charity will target similar problems in Cambodia, China,
India and Vietnam.