Unlike traditional methods of sex education, conducted via pamphlets and leaflets issued by local health centers, the aids education project is taking the initiative to explore new and more effective ways of promoting its message in schools.
Since it was established in 2006, the project has sponsored 681 Youth Love Stations nationwide, especially in regions severely hit by AIDS, including Yunnan, Sichuan and Guangxi. In 2014, they were ranked alongside Henan and Guangdong as the five provinces or regions with the highest number of new AIDS cases.
The project is active in nearly 200 elementary and middle schools in Yingjiang county, Yunnan, which lies on the China-Myanmar border close to the notorious "Golden Triangle", one of Asia's biggest opium production areas. As a result, the county has had a high number of people with AIDS and also used to have a problem with intravenous drug users.
"The county used to have many drug addicts. But now the number of cases is much lower," said Nie Yongxian, a teacher at Yingjiang Third Junior High School who arranges and presents sex education lectures for students.
Nie also travels to nearby villages once a month to give lectures to local residents. She employs a wide range of teaching methods, including movies, stories, dramatic sketches and folk rhymes in the local dialect with lyrics about HIV/AIDS.
Last year, no cases of drug addiction were reported in Hejie New Village, an indication of the success of Nie's lecture, which was attended by a large number of residents.
"The teacher used props to show how the virus attacks our immune system－the picture she drew was so vivid," said Duan Hongmei, 34, who took several members of her family to the packed lecture.
"The information is very useful. Listening to a lecture in the evening is much more interesting than being a couch potato. Lots of people were unwilling to leave when it ended, even though it was after 10 pm," she said.
Because more than 50 percent of Yingjiang's residents are member of ethnic groups, such as the Dai and the Jingpo, many people have a poor understanding of Mandarin. The language barrier prompted the project's leaders to train a number of bilingual teachers, a move that has been warmly welcomed.
Strong support
In Sichuan, the AIDS prevention and anti-drugs campaign has gained strong support among college students.
The Youth Love Station at Chengdu Technological University runs a club for students called "To Know, To Love", which holds summer camps and regular seminars to spread information about safe sex and disease prevention.
The university is one of a small number in China that offer sex education as an optional course for students.
"However, the course is usually full just a few minutes after notification is posted online," said Zhang Xueyou, a sophomore who leads the club. "Since the number of students who can join the class is so small, we run the club to spread knowledge among a larger number of people."
Zhang Yinjun, president of the AIDS education project, said parents can play a crucial role in safeguarding their children, and the Youth Love Station in Chengdu has invited them to participate in the project.
"AIDS used to be a sensitive topic among adults. They believed that their kids were obedient and well-behaved. Therefore they had little chance of becoming infected," she said.
But after participating in the class, many parents no longer hesitate to ask the teacher questions such as "What do we do if our child gets infected with AIDS?"
"They are willing to teach their children, and that has encouraged us to better implement the program. In the battle against AIDS, we are all in it together," Zhang said.
