The Director's Note

Dear PTE Supporters,

Greetings from an increasingly temperate Beijing. In the months since the last PTE newsletter went out we've experienced some amazing growth and are better positioned than ever to educate the hundreds of millions of Chinese youth about HIV/AIDS.

In December of 2007 we launched our HIV/AIDS peer counseling website, www.hivzx.com.  While its still in its "beta launch" phase, it is in many ways very awesome. Read more about HIVzx.com below.

We've also begun our first series of teacher training programs, completing training workshops in Fangshan County of Beijing and in Tianjin. Working closely with the CDC and local education administrators we've been able to train 70 teachers to be HIV/AIDS educators in their schools.

These past few months saw PTE receiving some good press coverage. A nice cover shot and story about PTE appeared in local Beijing expat magazine, That’s Beijing. There was also a good quote from me in an interesting post on the Newsweek website and another article in the December edition of another local expat magazine.

We are proud to announce that we've brought on Carl Wang as a full time staff member to serve as PTE's Deputy Director. Carl has been an instrumental part of the PTE team since 2005 and will be heading up the operational side of PTE as I initiate an effort to bring on the "2nd generation" of PTE leaders, a move that will be critical to our long term success. Read more about Carl below.

As always, your thoughts, emails, questions and donations are very much appreciated!

All the best from Beijing,
Gabe Suk
 

The Story of HIVzx.com

Launched on December 1st, 2007, HIVzx.com is PTE's latest initiative to reach China's youth with HIV/AIDS education.

As a grassroots organization, launching an innovative website with specialized technology is something that requires patience, vision and most importantly, the unending dedication of an outstanding corps of volunteers.

The idea to start HIVzx.com came in the summer of 2007 during a planning meeting that was designed to brainstorm cost-effective ways to achieve a presence across the vast geographical expanse of China.

An idea to register and staff specialized MSN messaging accounts quickly evolved into a quest to build a comprehensive online peer counseling chat interface.

Web conversation is the language of China's youth and online chatting is the method of communication that they feel most comfortable communicating in. HIVzx.com offers an opportunity to China's youth to open up and seek out and receive information they might not otherwise feel comfortable accessing.

In August of 2007, teams of web developers were assembled and set off working on the task of writing code and designing the site. Simultaneously, a three-part peer-counseling module and corresponding tests were written to train peer-counselors with.

From it's soft launch in December of 2007 through to today the site has undergone numerous changes, upgrades of technology and additions of functionality.

On an average day there are around 10 people coming to the HIVzx.com site asking questions ranging from where and how to get tested for HIV to expressing concerns about their sexual health. In addition the HIVzx.com mailbox gets around 5 emails queries a day with questions of a similar nature.

To meet this need there is a group of 35 peer counselors who take turns monitoring the site and the email box throughout the week.

HIVzx.com is a web 2.0 solution to meet the staggering lack of knowledge about HIV/AIDS and the intense desire by the youth of China to reach out for answers on a topic that frightens them much but one they have such little access to information about.

While still very much in its infancy, the initial results are impressive and HIVzx.com stands to be a valuable asset in PTE's quest to bring HIV/AIDS education to China's youth.
 

Carl Wang joins PTE as Deputy Director

In January of 2008 Carl Wang joined PTE in a role as deputy director. His job involves overseeing all operational aspects of PTE programs including volunteer coordination, curriculum development and teacher training instruction.

Hailing from the city of Hangzhou in southern China’s Zhejiang Province, Carl came to Beijing in 1999 to study chemistry at the prestigious Beijing University. Carl has been working as a volunteer for PTE since 2005, heading up all local training and teaching sessions where he brings his unique energy and depth of knowledge about HIV/AIDS to Chinese students and teachers.

After leaving the world of carbon trading in November of 2007, he prepared to make the full time commitment to working in the nonprofit sector.

Wang commented, "Working with PTE over the past two and a half years has been one of the most enjoyable parts of my life and the opportunity to make educating Chinese youth about HIV/AIDS my full-time pursuit was something I just couldn't pass up. There will be time later on in life for business pursuits and post-graduate study, but as my favorite politician Barack Obama always likes to speak of, we cannot ignore the fierce urgency of now, and that is what I think PTE is addressing here in China. There is just such little knowledge and so much stigma and discrimination.”
 

PTE Begins Teacher Training Program

On March 28th, 2008, PTE conducted its first teacher training program in rural Beijing's Fangshan County.  A group of 50+ teachers representing 45 schools from around the County came to Fangshan Number Three middle school for a day long teacher training course run by Carl Wang of PTE and the Fangshan County Centers for Disease Control.

Teachers were trained in the basics of HIV/AIDS information and walked through PTE's unique curriculum model that they will be implementing in their schools during the coming school semester.

With strong support of the local education officials this first teacher training program set a strong precedent for work to come and will serve as the jumping off point for a further expansion of the program in the coming months.

In this issue

• The Director's Note
• The Story of HIVzx.com
• Carl Wang joins PTE as Deputy Director
• PTE Begins Teacher Training Program

Help PTE Grow

As PTE continues to expand the size and scope of our work in China, your contributions are more critical then ever in ensuring we have the financial resources to continue to enact positive change.

Please consider making a donation to PTE in the coming month in order to help us continue to make a difference in China.

Tax-deductible donations can be made online or by check sent to the PTE office.  See our donation page for more information.

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