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Henan Province is an area of China seriously hit by AIDS. Many Henan AIDS sufferers contracted this deadly virus through unfiltered blood transfusions and unprotected sexual contact. The Amity Foundation implemented several AIDS Awareness projects after finding AIDS to be a critical problem affecting a large proportion of the population in Henan.
Amity conducted eight training workshops for local church ministers and church leaders at different levels in Yunan and Henan provinces (for details, see table below), with the hope that those trained would be able to share their knowledge with members of the local community. The training courses included a variety of lectures, practical exercises, games, small group discussions, role-play and other activities, all of which touched upon a variety of approaches for dealing with AIDS, such as: learning about what AIDS is, different ways AIDS can be transmitted and what precautions people can take against it, current misunderstandings and prejudices people have about AIDS, correct condom usage, the present situation of AIDS in Henan Province, etc. All the participants showed great enthusiasm throughout the workshops and hoped Amity would be back for more training sessions in the near future. Armed with their new knowledge, participants looked forward to going home and sharing this valuable information with locals, drawing on church resources to help distribute pamphlets, posters and brochures, and hoping to raise awareness about this relatively unfamiliar topic. During the past six months, 400 people from 12 counties in Henan Province and Kunming (Yunnan Province) have attended the training programs, and it is hoped another 600 can be trained in the next six months. Detailed Information about the AIDS Training Workshops
The six months since our training workshops has shown itself to be a very productive time for those involved. Xihua church in Henan organized a HIV/AIDS publicity team to promote awareness of HIV/AIDS among local people. Volunteers on the team designed different types of promotional activities, including Yu Opera (Henan folk songs) and Tianjin-style cross talks, to popularize information about HIV/AIDS. The team journeyed to remote villages to perform on open stages in front of local communities. Feedback from villages showed that the rich and colorful programs were attractive to village farmers, who in turn started showing concern about the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its prevention. A combined total audience of 20,100 local people acquired HIV/AIDS knowledge from the performances, which was then passed on to still more people. Altogether, around 101,000 people benefited from this program (see Appendix below). Zhu Ma Dian is one of the hardest hit AIDS-infected regions in Henan. Before training, very few people in local churches knew about HIV/AIDS. The only thing they all knew is that all the patients displayed the same symptoms and died in agony. Locals applied their own names to this terrible epidemic, such as “the sexual disease‿, “the deadly disease". HIV-positive and AIDS patients were widely shunned and prejudiced against. Physically and mentally tortured, these patients felt deep sorrow and almost gave up on life altogether. Amity organized three courses for 150 church ministers and lay workers from Zhu Ma Dian. After training, these church people cast off the fears they used to have, replacing them with a Christian love which spurred them to ponder what they could do to help the very same people they used to try to keep away from. They went to visit HIV-positive and AIDS patients and talked with them. On learning of their needs, the church people are now starting a goose-raising project as an income-generation program for people living with HIV, a project which is intended to bring in to full play the intelligence and skills of the participants involved. The project will help turn the patients from passive beneficiaries to active "do-ers" and should enable them to re-enter mainstream society. This kind of integrated care program functions as therapy and helps boost the confidence of marginalized groups, keeping their spirits high and offering hope for their future lives. Such projects also help ensure the sustainability of the program at a community level. Li Defa, a minister from Duan Zhuang church, contracted HIV five years ago through unsafe blood selling. The family built a new house with the money he and his wife earned from their blood. However, the infection quickly developed into full-blown AIDS before they could finish the construction work on their house. Li's wife died from AIDS three month ago and Li himself can now only take whatever medicine he can find, even if its effectiveness is uncertain. After receiving training, church people came to Li and encouraged him to join the income-generation project described above. He and his brother now form the backbone of this project.
Dancheng church in Henan organized several training workshops themselves for Christians at different local meeting points, applying the training approaches we demonstrated in our workshops. For the regular Sunday congregations, ministers added HIV/AIDS information to their teachings. By means of slogans, blackboard notice boards, posters, leaflets and home-visits, HIV/AIDS knowledge has been gradually disseminated among locals, and some 40,000 people have benefited. The Zhou Kou Gospel Hospital is a centre of medical care for people in Henan. With project funds, the hospital has been able to acquire an X-ray machine and ultrasonic scanner. With the help of local churches, the hospital’s mobile medical team has been offering free medical services for one year to people in poor villages. The services include: counseling, medical examinations and free medication (the medicine is funded by the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN)). Through their actions, God’s love has been spread widely among the poor farmers. A total of 10,000 locals accepted counseling and treatment from the mobile medical team during the past year. In Kunming (Yunnan Province), church leaders and lay church workers attended HIV/AIDS training. They in turn established consultant offices at local church meeting points with the intention of promoting public awareness of HIV/AIDS within the local church and community. By way of assistance, Amity provides videos, pamphlets and posters. The first phase of the AIDS prevention project in Henan and Yunnan has proven quite successful, especially through the changed attitudes of local churches and Christians as well as through the initiatives they have already taken as a result. With the removal of fear and with the love their Christian faith inspires deep in their hearts, churches will no doubt find more and better ways to help people living with HIV/AIDS in their communities. Appendix Performance Indicators in Xihua, Henan Province
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