HIV/AIDS Exhibition at UTM Campus

One of the first events that I was involved with was for the UTM campus in Malaysia. The University Teknologi Malaysia is one of the top universities in Malaysia and covers a huge part of Johor Bahru, literally. For all the non-Malaysians reading this, let’s just say our schools cover a minuscule part of what UTM covers. They have a mini zoo with a horse and deer, a beautiful mosque within university grounds and a watch tower for all those students who enjoy astronomy. Yes, star gazers, there is actually a whole watch tower given to you so you can stay up all night and watch those stars. I am totally regretting going to a university that was located downtown as entering the secured gates of UTM makes me think, what if……

Anyways back to my event, the main purpose of having this event at UTM was to encourage students to talk about this issue and to give them some basic information on HIV/AIDS. As my previous entry states, the Malaysian community is a lot more conservative than what I am used to in North America. Talking about sex, safe sex, contraceptives and other sexually transmitted diseases is embedded in the education system in North America. Yes, I know, it’s a different world but my point of stating this is to give you a clear picture of the situation in Malaysia. We were taught as young kids about our body, sex and things we can do to prevent ourselves from STD’s. In Malaysia, this is not so. That doesn’t mean that students don’t know about sex or STD’s but many of them don’t have the correct information or are curious about knowing more but have not been given the opportunity to talk about it. I think I had mentally prepared myself of this fact but as we have all experienced this, and I am no stranger to this feeling, things are a lot different when you actually have to face them. Easier said than done, right?

Since I have already been to many secondary schools and worked with students anywhere from 13 to 19 years of age, teaching them about HIV/AIDS was not any different from exhibiting the same information at the UTM campus. This was shocking and an essential reality in Malaysia that people need to understand. And maybe a factor that makes our job, as international trainees so much harder. Given the situation was a little different at the university since students were supposed to approach us and at the secondary school students are forced to listen to us talk about HIV/AIDS. Even so, some of the questions that were asked by university students were the same when compared to a 14-year old. This scares me. A lot.

To give you an example of what I am talking about, on the first day of the exhibition, within the first hour I was approached by a UTM student who told me that: Girls are the ones that give the virus onto the men and not the other way around.
I am going to let you think about this for a while…For all those North Americans reading this or students who are educated on the subject at hand, there is more than one issue with that statement but this gives us a clear example of why I am doing what I am doing. There is a reason why this program is running. And there is a reason why this job can get frustrating at times.

Even so, most of the people who approached us at the exhibition were males while the females were a lot more timid to discuss any of their questions or even look at some of the boards that were placed in front of them. Some of these girls probably don’t know much about the issue at hand than the students we work with at secondary schools. Some of these girls have probably not heard about HIV/AIDS, which was evident in some of the questions that were asked by them. In many ways, I shouldn’t be shocked but a lot of the interns were and I think we realized how different the situation was at hand. I have also realized how important it has become for us trainees to empower the youth to educate themselves and others of this issue. It has become so important to us and to this program to tell these students that it is their body and that it is up to them to get the right information. Throughout our workshops we never ask students to stop themselves from having sex or doing drugs. But we give them the important information and answer some of the tough questions so that they can take this information and make their own decision. I feel that times have changed and today’s youth will do as they please and they should because it’s their life and their body. But, it is my job to give them the right information so that they can hopefully think ten times before they do something that they might never be able to change.

That is what we hope for.

Beginning and More

After spending close to a year trying to find an internship, I came across the Crossed Red Ribbon Alert Program..A program that gives the opportunity to act as international trainees and educate the youth on HIV/AIDS. I think by that point the decision was very clear: Its time I packed my bags and take the never ending 32 hour flight to Johor Bahru. So here I am, in the very colorful, multi cultural, food loving, sun bathing country of Malaysia. Hello everyone, my name is Nitika Wahi and I am one of the interns who traveled all the way from Canada to take part in the CRRA program in Malaysia, Johor Bahru.

A little about the program. The CRRA program was created by AISEC Malaysia (Largest Student Run Organization in the world: http://www.aiesec.org/AI) in order to educate the youth on HIV/AIDS. We are currently being mentored by UTM (University Teknologi Malaysia) who has been a big supporter of abolishing HIV/AIDS stigma in Johor Bahru. The support and guidance of the students at UTM has allowed us interns to give back to the community and as trainees, we are very thankful to them. Once again, Thank You.

The CRRA program aims to respond to the ignorance, stigma and discrimination created towards HIV/AIDS victims and the virus itself. As interns, our job is to conduct workshops at secondary schools in Johor Bahru and educate the younger generation to make safe and better choices. This peer-to-peer education gives the students the opportunity to gain important information about this deadly virus so that when the time comes, they are able to make sound choices. As interns, we also volunteer at the Intan Life Zone.

Intan Life Zone offers various services to communities in need and provides a shelter home, drop-in centres and street feeding programs. They also provide counseling and referral services for people affected with this virus. Our job as international trainees is to visit them twice a week, spend time with them and contribute in any way possible. From teaching basic English to origami, from drawing to educating them about different cultures, residents are given the option to enjoy the little pleasures of life. This also allows us as trainees to learn from them about life, the hardships, the pain and suffering but also the strength shown by these residents. I think its fair to say, that we as trainees learn more from each session than the residents. And yes, it can get very tough at times, emotionally, but nothing compared to the hardships faced by the residents.

Currently we are two interns working on this project, Marie(From Japan) and myself (Canada), and to say the least, we have our hands full. I think the most important part for both of us has been working on this project together and coming up with our personal objectives or things we would like to educate the youth on when it comes to HIV/AIDS. As trainees, I think it is safe to say that we both have worked together to create a learning session that brings together some of the most important issues facing the world today, issues facing the youth of Malaysia and the potential devastating impact this can have on the Malaysian society. I think the most rewarding part of this experience has been when the youth approach us at the end of the presentation and want more information about this program, our life and the reason we are doing this. And to say that these are young children who have probably never heard of HIV/AIDS.

I think one of the major issues that interns have faced and are currently facing when running this program has been breaking the conservative barriers in Johor Bahru. Many students, teachers and schools are not very keen on educating the students on HIV/AIDS since sex before marriage is against their religion (Muslim). This has been an obstacle throughout the program but as international trainees we wish to encourage students to ask questions, talk about the issue and realize that this is not embarrassing but a matter of life, without overwhelming them of the situation.

To say the least, we have a long way to go but I think on a personal level we all have grown so much from this experience in just a few weeks. From the shelter home to the young students, I have realized sometimes a little goes a long way. And some of these students really do look up to you and you are seen as a mentor. I think this has been a personal challenge as slowly the realization passes through you that our words might very well affect their lives and maybe someday they will think of us and make the right choice. Or save a life. Or save their own.

I think that is the point of this program.

But realizing this fact can be a little scary. If not, a lot.