ChinAfrica Aug Cover 1- pp 14-15

中国与非洲 八月版 封面故事1-14-15页

A border region’s initiative to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS through sex education,beginning in first grade, is changing mindsets

中国边境地区从小学一年级开始实施性教育，增强学生防艾意识。

By Yu Nan 记者 于楠

While most schoolgirls have secrets, Xiao Ping’s (not her real name) is a little different. Every day, without fail, she finds a quiet corner to take a dose of medication, hiding her actions away from others, not wanting to be asked questions. She is HIV positive and on antiretroviral treatment for the rest of her life.

虽然大多数女孩子都有自己的小秘密，小萍（化名）的秘密却与大家的不尽相同。每天，小萍都不忘躲到一个安静的角落服药，躲起来为的是不让大家发现，不想面对大家的疑问。她是一个艾滋病毒携带者，余生都要接受抗逆转录病毒治疗。

“My close friends still play with me but some classmates and villagers shun me. The discrimination [against people living with HIV/AIDS] is still deep in many people's minds here,” said the 12-year-old, who lives in a remote mountain village in Yingjiang County, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

地处中国西南地区云南省德宏州盈江县，小萍的家就位于这里大山深处的一个寨子里。12岁的小萍接受记者采访时说：“我的好朋友们还是会和我一起玩，但是许多同学和村民都躲着我。这里人们对艾滋病患者还是有很深的歧视。”

“Three years ago, I learned that I had got the virus from my mom, who died of AIDS.At that time, I knew nothing about AIDS. However, I got treatment in time and have since learned more about AIDS from my doctor and teachers.”

“三年前，我得知妈妈把艾滋病毒传染给我。她就是得艾滋病去世的。那时，我对艾滋病一无所知。不过我治疗得很及时，并且从医生和老师那里了解了很多关于艾滋病的知识。”

Ping’s family is not the only case in her village, close to the China-Myanmar border.It is hard to imagine this beautiful place could ever be subject to the harsh realities of drug abuse, heroin and HIV/AIDS. The Dehong Prefecture has been designated a high-risk area for HIV/AIDS in Yunnan.

小萍家所在的寨子在云南省德宏州，紧邻中缅边境，是艾滋病高发区，寨子里不只有小萍一户这样的人家受到艾滋病困扰。我们无法想象，在这个地方美丽的外表下，却掩藏着如此残酷的现实：毒品及海洛因泛滥，艾滋病肆虐。

Education safeguard

教育护航

To tackle the problem, Yingjiang, a county in the prefecture, introduced sex education and classes on HIV/AIDS prevention in six schools in 2012. Today, the classes have been rolled out to 200 primary and secondary schools across the county.

为解决艾滋病感染率高的这一难题，德宏州的盈江县从2012年开始在6所学校引入性教育和防艾课程。如今，课程已经在盈江200多所中小学开展。

They are sponsored by the AIDS Prevention Education Project for Chinese Youth (APEPCY), a non-profit organization. It runs educational activities in schools using a combination of books, videos and lectures, while exploring other innovative educational models to raise young people’s awareness about AIDS and sexual health.

课程由中国青少年艾滋病防治教育工程办公室（简称 “青爱工程”）资助，该组织是一个非营利性公益机构。青爱工程将书本、视频、讲座等相结合，组织各种教学活动，并开发新的教育模式以达到提高青少年防艾和性健康意识的目的。

“It is crucial to help students and their parents understand how AIDS transmits and how to protect themselves,” said Yang Chunyan, head of APEPCY’s workstation in Yingjiang. “But the most important thing is to eliminate the discrimination against the infected.”

“帮助家长和孩子了解到艾滋病的传播渠道以及自我保护措施很关键。”青爱工程盈江工作站负责人杨春燕说道。“不过最重要的还是要消除对艾滋病感染者的歧视”

NieYongxian is among the first batch of teachers in Yingjiang to receive training in AIDS prevention and sex education teaching.

聂永仙是盈江县首批接受防艾及性教育师资培训的老师之一。

“Students urgently need to know about the dangers of HIV/AIDS and how to take precautions against the disease,” said the teacher from Yingjiang No.3 Junior High School. Since the region faces a serious drug problem and a potential HIV/AIDS epidemic, she said “it is also important to tell students of the dangers of drugs abuse, especially the new drugs being circulated, and urge them to be on their guard.”

她在盈江县第三初级中学工作。“学生急需了解艾滋病的危害以及如何防范艾滋病的措施。我们这个地区毒品问题严重，艾滋病隐患很大，告诉孩子吸毒的危害，尤其现在比较常见的一些新型毒品就变得十分重要，这能使孩子们提高警惕。”

Sex education begins from the first grade, where it mainly deals with physical hygiene. Secondgraders learn more about sexual maturity as well as concepts of relationships and marriage, Nie added.

“我们一年级就开了性教育课，主要是生理卫生方面的知识，二年级开始课程就加入了性成熟期、两性关系和婚姻方面的内容了。”

“I think it is urgent and necessary to tell them more about pregnancy and contraception,” she said.

“我觉得他们急需了解关于怀孕和避孕方面的知识。”聂老师说道。

To 16-year-old Luo Tong, the classes given in the specially designed rooms are absorbing. “I was taught how to avoid unintended pregnancy and how to protect myself from sexual harassment,” she told ChinAfrica. “[The lessons] include topics related to puberty,which my parents are too shy to discuss with me.”

对于16岁的罗彤来说，在“青爱小屋”上性教育课非常有趣，“我学到了怎么样避免意外怀孕以及怎么样避免性骚扰，”她对记者说道。“课程包括关于青春期的一些主题，这些话题都是父母羞于与我们讨论的。”

Nie’s work goes beyond the classroom. She also gives talks on HIV/AIDS prevention and control and sex education to Yingjiang’s villagers. She thinks the talks are another way of fostering greater awareness of the disease and the channels through which the infection can occur. They also help fight discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS.

聂老师不止给孩子们上课，还深入到村寨里为村民普及艾滋病防治和性健康知识。聂老师认为讲座是另一种很好的形式，能帮助人们更好的认识艾滋病和它的传播渠道，讲座还能帮助人们消除对艾滋病患者的歧视。

Guo Dinglian, a village mother with three children, attends the lectures three times a month.

村民郭顶莲是三个孩子的妈妈，她一个月内已经参加了三次这样的讲座。

“Some of the cases of HIV infection among drug abusers happened around us. So my priority is to take care of my family and educate my kids,” she said.

她说：“我们周围就有因为吸毒感染上艾滋病的，所以我觉得我最大的责任就是照顾好家庭，教育好孩子。”

Thanks to the timely mental counseling provided by the classes, Xiao Ping is able to understand her HIV positive status and handle her negative feelings better. Her friends never mention her status while playing with her.

由于课程能够适时提供心理疏导，小萍了解到她的病情，并学会了如何疏解自己的负面情绪。朋友和她在一起的时候也会避免提到她的病情。

New high-risk group

艾滋病新高危人群

Sex education is key to prevention and control of AIDS, says Zhang Yinjun, co-founder and Managing Director of APEPCY.

中国青少年艾滋病防治教育工程发起人张银俊认为：艾滋病防治的关键就是性教育。

“Sex education does not receive adequate attention and resources as traditionally, sex has been a taboo subject in China,” Zhang said. “One is not supposed to talk about it openly, especially with children.”

“由于中国传统观念里对于“性”这个话题的忌讳，性教育并没有得到应有的关注，资源投入也不足。人们不能公开谈论性，与孩子之间更是不能展开关于“性”的话题。” 张银俊说道。

She is passionate about the work to arrest the spread of HIV/AIDS among young people through sex education. However, when the project was in its infancy, many people thought she was mad because she dealt with taboo topics every day. Yet, she soldiered on. “I just know that what I am doing is right,” she said.

她带着莫大的激情投身于青少年性教育事业中，希望通过性教育遏制艾滋病在青少年中的传播。然而，青爱工程发起之初，许多人不理解张银俊的“疯狂”，因为她每天的工作都是围绕着“性”这一禁忌话题。然而她并没有退缩，她选择直面困难，继续坚持，如她所说：“我知道我所做的事业是正确的、有意义的。”

In an alarming trend, HIV/AIDS among young people is on the rise nationwide.

令人警醒的是，全国范围内艾滋病在青少年中的传播呈上升趋势。

Statistics from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show infections among people aged 15-24 rose by about 14 percent every year from 2011 to 2015. Teenagers – who are prone to becoming sexually active as well as be tempted by drugs - are the new high-risk group.

中国疾病控制中心的数据统计表明，2011年至2015年，15-24岁艾滋病感染者以约14%的比例逐年递增。原因之一是青少年开始进入性行为活跃期，其二是他们中的一些被毒品所诱惑。因此，青少年成为感染艾滋病的高危人群。

China has reported a total of 575,000 HIV-positive cases at the end of October, 2015. CDC estimates the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in China could account for as much as 0.06 percent of China's total population.

据中国疾控中心估计，中国到2015年10月底共有艾滋病感染者575,000人，这一数字占中国总人口的0.06%。

In the first 10 months last year, the estimated number of new infections on the Chinese mainland among people aged 15-24 exceeded 14,000. Roughly, 82 percent of the infections resulted from acts of homosexuality.

仅就2015年前十个月来讲，中国大陆15到24岁新增艾滋病感染者人数已经超过14000。粗略估计，82%的艾滋病新增感染都是由同性性行为导致。

The data suggests sexual transmission was the main channel for the spread of the HIV, overtaking drug use and contaminated blood transfusions.

这一数据表明性传播渠道已经超越毒品和血液传播，成为艾滋病传播的最主要途径。

Zhang says more young people are being infected due to the lack of sound sex education and she feels schools should share the burden of spreading lessons on sex education with parents.

张银俊表示，许多年轻人感染艾滋病都是由于缺乏应有的性教育，她认为学校应与家长共同担负起性教育的这一重任。

Zhang Liming, Deputy Director of Yingjiang’s education bureau, said that a series of quantitative assessment measures have been implemented to enhance AIDS prevention and sex education priorities in the local school curriculum. In addition, the schools are partnering with NGOs to train more teachers to take such classes.

据盈江县教育局副局长张黎明介绍，盈江县还采取了一系列定量评估措施以促进防艾教育和性教育在学校课程体系里的贯彻实施。另外，学校还与非政府组织合作，培训性教育和防艾课的专业教师。

Gou Ping, a psychology professor at Chengdu University in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, agrees sex education is vital. “It is crucial [for Chinese youth] to understand the importance of safe sex from an early age,” Gou said. “With proper sex education, they will learn how to protect themselves and their partners during sex, and the HIV/AIDS prevention plan will fall into place.”

四川成都大学的苟萍教授专注于心理学研究，她也认为性教育至关重要。“从孩子小时候就让他们了解到安全性行为的重要性特别关键， 性教育能够让他们知道在进行性行为时如何保护自己和对方，这就使得防艾工作水到渠成了。

A role model

榜样的力量

Over the past decade, APEPCY has been trying to introduce AIDS prevention methods and sex education into the nation’s education system by organizing classes from kindergartens to universities.

过去十年当中，青爱工程致力于将防艾与性教育课程纳入从幼儿园到大学的教育体系中。

Since it was started in 2006, APEPCY has sponsored 681designed classrooms for AIDS prevention nationwide. It has also built up 11 bases and nine branches across the country, which offer professional training, compile textbooks, and support teaching and research activities.

自2006年启动以来，青爱工程已经在全国援建近700所“青爱小屋”。并建立了11个基地，9个工作站，基地和工作站的主要作用是充分利用当地资源，吸引外部资源为青爱办提供外部支持，同时利用青爱基地自身的主导角色，资源或专业优势，为当地青爱小屋提供政策上、资源上、专业和管理上的指导支持，促进小屋建设。

Chen Zhongdan, UNAIDS strategic information adviser, speaks highly of APEPCY.

陈仲丹博士是联合国艾滋病规划署的督导评估和策略信息顾问，他给予了青爱工程很高的评价。

"We are planning to introduce APEPCY’s experience to the rest of the country and other countries as Yingjiang’s solution has been effective,” he said.

他说道：“鉴于青爱工程盈江模式的成功有效，我们有计划将青爱工程的经验介绍到中国其他地区，甚至其他国家。”

Zhang Yinjun has further plans. "I hope to make better use of domestic and international resources to make AIDS prevention and sex education a public welfare program for everyone and ultimately realize the‘Zero AIDS’ goal,” she said.

张银俊主任为青爱工程设定了远期目标，“我希望能更好的利用国内外资源让艾滋病防治和性教育成为每一个人的公益事业，最终实现零艾滋的这个目标。”

(Xiao Ping’s real name has been withheld to protect her identity)

（为保护个人隐私，隐去文中小萍的真实姓名）

Sidebar边栏

Battling HIV/AIDS on the Frontline

青爱工程：战斗在防艾工作第一线

The AIDS Prevention Education Project for Chinese Youth (APEPCY)was established by China Charities Aid Foundation for Children and the Chinese Society of Education in 2006.

中国青少年艾滋病防治教育工程（简称青爱工程）2006年启动，由中华慈善总会和中国教育学会主办。后于2011年转由中华少年儿童慈善救助基金会、中国教育学会主办。

APEPCY seeks to mobilize society, including community charity mechanisms, educational institutions and local professional organizations, to introduce HIV/AIDS prevention awareness in 10,000 higher education institutions, vocational schools, middle schools and primary schools.

青爱工程力求动员全社会包括社区慈善机制、教育机构和地方专业组织等资源，在高等院校、职业学校、中小学建立10000所“青爱小屋”，将防艾教育贯彻其中。

This is done by compiling reading material, training teachers, and guiding classroom or thematic-approach activities.

青爱工程通过编写读本、师资培训、课堂引领式教学模式及主题活动的方式来实现这一目标。

It functions as a platform to enable young people to gain awareness of HIV/AIDS and through sexual health education and runs HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment education programs for children living with HIV and AIDS orphans.

青爱工程还是一个平台，在这个平台上，青少年通过接受性教育而培养防艾意识。同时它还担负着为艾滋病患儿和艾滋孤儿提供艾滋病防治教育的责任。