Facing AIDS & Living for Tomorrow, a Tianjin Experience. (Pt. 2)
Bricks contributor Vivencio Mercado writes this second part of his feature article for Bricks about living with AIDS in China. Recently, Bricks visited an AIDS support group in Tianjin that sought funding for expansion. Mr. Mercado came to Tianjin with Fr. Loftus for the meeting. He writes about his experience on meeting the people of Tianjin Hai He and the people who support them and reflects on the situation of PLAs (persons living with AIDS/HIV) in China. Some of the pictures that you are about to see are obscured to protect their identity.
You can read Part One HERE
Sr. Claire
Bricks came to know about Tianjin Hai He through Sr. Claire Zhai who used to be a volunteer worker for The Red Ribbon Foundation in Ditan Hospital in Beijing. I asked Sr. Claire what she thought about working with persons with HIV/AIDS. Simply put, her answer, which she gave in Chinese, was that it was not a job. Watching her, I noticed that’s how she behaved. She had this easy going and relaxed manner with the group. She didn’t impose either nor does she treats herself like some “visitor” or “guest”. She’s just there. Sr. Claire is a Catholic nun who has been involved with AIDS work for more than three years, first with Ditan as a volunteer worker and now through Jinde doing consultancy work with AIDS support groups like Tianjin Hai He. Not only did she introduce the group to Bricks but she also introduced the group to the local church where they regularly meet. Sr. Mary Yang, one of the sisters in the Tianjin Cathedral, know Sr. Claire and her work with PLAs. She got in touch with Sr. Claire and offered the group a meeting room in the cathedral which they could use for their regular meetings.
Mr. Liu
Not all the members of Tianjin Hai He are like Xiao Xuen, Da Hua and Li Hu. There are also the quiet ones, the ones who are still coming to terms with them being HIV+, like Mr. Liu. He only found out two months ago and I could still see that from his interaction with the group, he was a bit reserved and quiet and perhaps even a bit afraid. It was his first time to go to a public meeting with the other members through Da Hua and Li Hu’s persuasion. During the interview, he says that he was thankful for having found a support group that could actually understand his situation. He is somehow fortunate to have found Tianjin Hai He.
700,000 faceless men, women & children
Not everyone living with HIV/AIDS is fortunate enough to find a support group like Tianjin Hai He. A joint study by the WHO, UNAIDS and the Chinese Health Ministry estimates that are 700,000 Chinese living with HIV/AIDS, which accounts to .05% of the population. Although education and awareness has fast been improving in the past decade especially with the top leaders in the government putting priority on the issue, this does not translate to the change in perception of HIV/AIDS among many Chinese. The stigma that comes with the disease is the more debilitating factor than the disease itself. One becomes faceless with HIV/AIDS. And “face” is important in Chinese culture. “Losing face” means to temporarily lose a certain sense of propriety and pride which the Chinese hold so dear. With HIV/AIDS, the “lost of face” goes to a whole new level, it becomes permanent. PLAs are “removed of the face”. They become faceless. They don’t exist. In many cases, coming out in the open is a social death sentence. Not all families are as accepting. Not all employers are as understanding. Not all hospitals are as accommodating. With HIV/AIDS, one becomes the unwanted guest in the family, a liability in the workplace and a mere statistic in the medical profession. .05% of the population does not exist because of AIDS and support groups like Tianjin Hai He become the sanctuary for men and women living with HIV/AIDS as many of them become all of the above.
The past does not matter
With a regular venue, the sisters’ support and backing from the local CDC, Tianjin Hai He has evolved into a more organized, established and secure group. They have a hotline where members who are not yet ready to face other members can call for counseling and advice. They have a website/blog (managed by Xiao Xuen), an email address and a QQ messenger account for Internet and web gatherings. Recently, Li Hu attended a major training conference about cultivating AIDS support groups like Tianjin Hai He. I was impressed. What Fr. Loftus noticed was the business card that Li Hu handed out to everybody. It was nothing fancy, but it was a Tianjin Hai He business card. It meant that they were serious. It’s a good omen. The group plans to network with other AIDS support groups and they are being encouraged by the sisters and the local CDC to do so. It is very evident that knowledge about treatment and ways to prevent infection are not the only things that matter when someone has HIV/AIDS, it’s also connecting with other PLAs. From what I saw that day, the latter is more important than the former.
The disease and the social and emotional complications that comes along with it seem to have made a unique bond between these men. I looked at them during the meeting and I saw fear, yes, but not as much fear as I thought one would possess when one is faced with HIV and AIDS. As I looked at them I saw other emotions too. Like joy when Da Hua told the group that he has finally told his family that he is HIV+ and the family is dealing with it and slowly learning to understand it. I saw concern on their faces when one member, Yun Ming was telling the side effects of his new cocktail drugs. Each was willing to share their experience that might help him deal with it better. I also saw hope in their eyes. I also saw hope in their eyes when they were talking with us, especially with Sr. Claire. I saw the same hope when they thanked Sr. Mary who had offered them the room to use on a regular basis. It was the same hope that I saw when they were talking to CDC representative who regurarly come to their meetings. People like them give them hope that Chinese people can actually accept them without any sort of judgment and that they actually understand. Hope that translates to many things like living this reality they call AIDS and that happiness is possible. As Da Hua pointed out to us “The past doesn’t matter anymore. We must think of tomorrow.” Living with AIDS doesn’t have to mean the end. Life after AIDS is possible. I see it in the faces of these men.
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