Phyu Phyu Thin is holding a baby who is HIV positive. She was only 16 when she joined the students demonstrations in Rangoon in 1988. Now she is one of the 48 NLD candidates running for the by-elections. She is the youngest -42- and one of the 14 women. On May 21, 2007, Phyu Phyu Thin was arrested by police in Yangon for organizing a prayer rally to call for the release of detained National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Never told what crime she had committed, she was held for more than a month. She says that she became really politically motivated when she was jailed, heard the screamings and saw the tortured bodies. She says also that it was Aung San Suu Kyi who came to her dreams to give her strength. In 2002, she had created a shelter for people with AIDS or HIV positive. There are only two hospitals specialized for AIDS patients for the whole Myanmar. Phyu Phyu Thin?s shelter is taking care of three hundred people. According to UN AIDS statistics, the Health Ministry spends only about US$ 100,000 annually on its AIDS eradication campaign. She admits that she has no more personnal life since she started the center. Actually, she says, the jail may have been the easy part. Now there is still so much to be done. During the elections campaign, Aung San Suu Kyi singled her out :?As you all know, Phyu Phyu not only possesses a desire to serve the people but also a proven capacity to do so,? she said ?I may not guarantee that all our candidates have such qualities. But I can guarantee that about Phyu Phyu.? When Aung San Suu Kyi visited the HIV center, she gave each AIDS resident a rose, which they greatly appreciated. After her visit, shortly after she was released in November 2010, the government tried on several occasions to close the center. Photo by Ye Naung/Jazz Editions/ABACAPRESS.COM # 315166_004