So, World AIDS Day 2008 has finally arrived, marking the end of an extremely busy and productive year for PTE.  We have been working on several key projects this year, and have been developing innovative new ways to spread the message about prevention and anti-discrimination to as broad an audience as possible. 

Our main efforts this year have been focused on developing our HIV/AIDS education curriculum for high school students, training teachers, expanding our migrant school education programme and developing our online HIV peer counselling website, HIVzx.  HIVzx is being re-launched today with fresh new content, an expanded team of volunteer peer-counselors and a great new design, created by Will, PTE’s volunteer web designer, who has been working day and night to get everything ready in time.  This marks a new phase in the development of HIVzx, from an experimental beta version to a fully functioning peer-counseling platform – the first of its kind in China, and perhaps the world.

We have also been expanding our migrant school teaching program.  Millions of migrants come to Beijing from all over China, and often bring their families with them.  Children of migrants are not eligible for the same education and social benefits as local children, and so attend special migrant schools, which are often very lacking in resources.  PTE’s recruits and trains volunteers from Beijing universities, such as Tsinghua and BLCU to go in to these schools and teach these children about HIV and AIDS, giving them the information they will need to protect themselves later in life, and contributing to stigma reduction.

PTE’s third key programme is curriculum development and teacher training.  PTE has created a textbook and teaching guide, giving teachers who want to teach their students about HIV prevention high quality resources to do so.  PTE also trains middle school teachers to deliver HIV/AIDS education.  We have seen great of interest in both our textbooks and teacher training, and have already provided training sessions for over 100 teachers.

World AIDS Day is a day for remembrance, a day for awareness and most importantly, a day to believe.  It is the belief that together we can still beat back the seemingly unending escalation of the HIV virus.  The belief that we can help improve the lives of those already infected and help change HIV from a terminal to chronic illness for all through knowledge of testing and treatment options. 

This belief is not an idea thrown into the wind, but the by-product of the dedication of all the individuals and organizations out there working to stem the spread of the HIV virus.  PTE, in its own unique way, is a part of this force.  And on this World AIDS Day 2008, we reconfirm our commitment to the belief that through education we can slow the spread of the HIV virus and drastically improve the lives of those already infected.