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"Helping hands"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(01/12/06)
Byline: NASA MARIA ENTABAN
THE statistics scared Geralynn Wong – they shook her up so badly she felt
compelled to help in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) student studies psychology on
weekdays, but during the weekends, she spends her time fulfilling a
different sort of passion. For the past two years Geralynn, 22, has
volunteered with the Standard Chartered-AIESEC HIV/AIDS Learning Network
programme.
“The statistics are only showing increment – as youths, we can try to help
out and make that change,” she says.
While Geralynn doesn’t work directly with patients, what she does will
hopefully have an indirect impact on society in the fight against AIDS.
“We go around and facilitate HIV educational workshops to parents and youths
alike. We teach them about healthy lifestyles as well as facts about the
virus,” she says. The organisation goes from college to college on a regular
basis.
Despite the immense sense of satisfaction Geralynn gets from helping out and
seeing the results, more worrying is how difficult it is to get the public’s
support, and how little time there is to carry out all the organisation’s
plans.
Another challenge is this: Young people are tough nuts to crack.
“The biggest problem with young people is that they don’t believe they are
at risk if they are not involved in high risk activities. They are unaware
that HIV can be contracted through other means, which is where we come in
with the information,” she says.
Another youth, Clarence Sim, 23, has been volunteering with the Kuala Lumpur
AIDS Support Services (KLASS) society for the past two years.
“My involvement with HIV/AIDS was accidental – I have always wanted to work
with children, and I wanted go into paediatrics. But then I saw how much
there was to be done with HIV/AIDS patients, and ended up doing this
instead,” he shares.
He works mainly on the HELPline, answering questions from the public and
sometimes giving counselling over the phone, but he also goes on road shows
and helps out in workshops organised by KLASS.
Clarence studied psychology in RIMA College and is now working at the
Universiti Malaya Medical Centre research department for HIV/AIDS patients.
“Even though I am not in direct contact with patients, my work helps improve
their quality of life in terms of medication and nutrition,” he adds.
Tee Chit Thong is a 26-year-old graduate student who has been volunteering
with KLASS for the past three years.
He is a volunteer speaker at workshops and seminars targeted at youths, and
also facilitates workshop activities.
“The challenge is always this – how to attract the public. What always works
includes games and stories because young people cannot sit still for too
long,” says the Masters Degree student in medical science.
What keeps Chit Thong going is the fact that HIV/AIDS has become such a huge
threat in Malaysia.
“Young people don’t care to know about the virus, because they believe it
will only affect drug addicts and prostitutes. Even so, everyone should be
aware of the threat,” he says.
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