By Gong Yidong
What do two hours mean in the life of a Chinese construction worker? They can earn 20 yuan (2.6 US dollars) laboring, or they can attend a 120-minute lecture which could just save their life.
It certainly changed the mind of 28-year-old Chen Wei, a laborer. "I came to know that AIDS was not a disease exclusively belonging to sexually active westerners," admits the strong-built and dark-skinned Chen, a steel bar worker on a big construction site in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province.
Chen is one of the 30,667 beneficiaries of a pilot program started in 2007 by the Chinese Ministry of Construction (MOC) which aims to teach migrant construction workers about HIV/AIDS.
HARD KNOWLEDGE
It is a shabby single-story house surrounded by a commercial complex called Shanghe (upper river) International, which is currently being built. With its 70 sets of desks and chairs, the 100-square-meter room is a part-time training school for workers on the construction site.
In mid-October 2007, Chen Wei and his fellow workers were asked by their supervisor to attend a two-hour lecture in the evening given by teachers from Changsha Station of Construction Engineering Security Supervision(CSCESS) on the prevention and control of AIDS.
Chen, who comes from central Hunan's Xinhua County and had worked on more than 20 construction sites nationwide, thought it was an interesting topic, but one which he thought had nothing to do with him.
"I was previously told by others that AIDS was more disastrous than cancer. But I didn't relate it with us Chinese," says Chen.
But Chen found he was wrong after teacher Zhou Yiran briefed the 60 trainees on the development of AIDS nationally and in Hunan Province. By the end of November 2007, the underdeveloped province has reported 4,974 cases of HIV infection and AIDS, ranking it eighth in terms of occurrence nationwide. The estimated figure of cases is five to six times larger.
More alarming for the young man was the fact that HIV/AIDS is now appearing among the general public in China. Hence why migrant workers are listed as one of the focus groups in the national AIDS-prevention blueprint.
In the case of Shanghe International, the majority of the 300-plus workers have no family to accompany them, and Chen knows that some of the workers go with street prostitutes or with girls from beauty parlors. It is estimated that Changsha is home to over 20,000 karaoke bars, beauty salons, massage parlors and other "recreational" spots.
"My friends are not used to using condoms, simply because wearing them is very uncomfortable," smiles Chen Wei.
At class, Chen also learnt new concepts such as how AIDS can be passed on from mother to new-born baby. He also learnt that HIV cannot be passed to human beings by mosquitoes. "The content of our lessons is compact but useful," echoes Chen's fellow worker Li De.
In just two weeks, nine teachers from CSCESS and Hunan Construct Polytechnic (HCP) gave 87 lectures to over 5,000 construction workers on 38 construction sites in Changsha and the adjacent cities of Zhuzhou and Xiangtan.
Trainers believe the lectures have achieved satisfactory results. The rate of correct responses to a nine-question test was raised from less than 60 per cent before the training to 83.8 percent after, according to HCP figures.
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