Chinese youth taught to be against AIDS
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-10-11 19:12

Cai Hongmin, 22, stepped into a "classroom" for the first time since he left senior high school four years ago. Together with 11 boys and girls around his age, heat in a first-floor vacant room by a small quiet street, listening to a lecture on a novel topic -- about AIDS.

They all came from a community called Xiaochangcun in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province. Most of them were jobless or worked on and off as security guards, restaurant or beauty salon waiters or waitresses, a group that would be likely to go astray without proper social guidance.

The lecture was administered by the "Youngsters Life Skills Training Program", which was initiated last October, with support from the UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund).

The lecturers are not common teachers, but policemen from the Yunnan Police Officers Academy. Dai Fuqiang, who used to train local policemen and school students about the harm of taking drugsand how to detect drug use, said his job enabled him to combine his knowledge of drugs with anti-AIDS education.

The province, bordering the world's biggest drug production base -- the "Golden Triangle" -- is the worst-hit by HIV/AIDS in the country, with nearly 30,000 HIV infected people and 1,223 AIDS patients. Drug use accounts for 51.4 percent transmission.

UNICEF's China AIDS program officer Xu Wenqing, who helped train the policemen as teachers, believed the young people are the"most vulnerable" group and also, "most crucial" in barring the epidemic from spreading,citing the figure that 79 percent of those with HIV in China are under the age of 39.

"Teaching teenagers life skills to stay away from HIV/AIDS has been successful and should be promoted. Not a single teenager at school takes drugs in Kunming after attending our classes."

The UNICEF program turned to community youth this year, a formidable challenge. Dai would often find himself in the same situation in class.

"I ask them who can tell me which one is a high-risk behavior: intravenous drug use, shaking hands with an HIV infected person, sex without condom or mosquito sting? They look at me blindly, no answers."

Eventually, as their shyness recedes, one or two young boys utter some answers. Those who are right are given small prizes as encouragement.

To Dai's delight, a few students like Cai come for a second time.

"I talked with my family and friends about what I've learned about HIV/AIDS. I come here to see if there's more I should know. At least now, I'm sure I won't be caught by the disease," Cai said.

What he likes most about the class is the option to act in short dramas about situations that may or may not transmit HIV/AIDS. They play roles like commoners, drug users, prostitutes or the families of HIV infected persons.

Since April this year, the UNICEF project has trained more than50 community officials and young people. Xu hopes that as the program goes on, they will discover "outstanding students" to be future trainers.

"We hope they can use the knowledge in real life. Girls can say'no' to sex, boys can say 'no' to drugs and they can tell doctors 'better give me medicine rather than an injection" or at least, "use clean needles instead of throw-away needles'," said Xu.

"Indeed, protecting the young is protecting all of us," she said.