The vast majority of their members are either HIV-infected individuals or AIDS patients. They help the AIDS community build confidence and a sense of responsibility. If you want to join their QQ group, you need to first provide the "password"… After being introduced by an expert from the municipal disease control center, on the morning of November 30th, I visited Qingdao's only organization that provides services for the AIDS community - the Qingdao Red Ribbon Volunteer Service Station.
Establishment: Creating a Home for Infected Individuals
I found the Red Ribbon Volunteer Service Station in a building near the municipal disease control center. It was an ordinary room of about 30 square meters with a sign hanging outside. On the wall facing the entrance, there were more than 30 heart-shaped small cards, each with blessings written for the AIDS community. Volunteer Xiao Ya said that because of their special mission, they have never actively promoted themselves to "outsiders." And for strangers who have not been introduced, they do not receive them.
One of the founders of the service station, Hai Feng, is a handsome man who openly admitted to being an infected individual. The service station was established in March 2009 and officially hung its sign at the end of that year. "We set up this service station to create a loving and warm home for AIDS-infected individuals so that everyone can gather together and help each other," he said.
In the early stages of the establishment of the service station, Hai Feng and several others worked tirelessly. However, since they all had their own full-time jobs, as the number of people increased, they gradually stepped back and instead hired several full-time volunteers to take the front line. At this time, Xiao Ya and another volunteer, Da Hai, joined the service station. Xiao Ya is a local from Qingdao, graduated from a medical school, and after working in another unit for a while, she came here. Da Hai is from Dezhou; neither of them are AIDS-infected individuals.
Mission: Detailed to the Point of Calling to Remind Them to Take Medicine
Many AIDS-infected individuals will experience a collapse of their psychological defenses, even bursting into tears, after confirmation. Providing psychological intervention for these individuals is one of the important tasks of the service station. "If any disease control center or hospital detects an infected individual and calls us asking for help with psychological intervention, we will immediately take a taxi to the scene," Da Hai said. Since they specialize in this work and have some communication experience with infected individuals, sometimes their persuasion is more effective.
Once, when they arrived at the scene, they found an AIDS-infected individual standing by the window, feeling very low. "At the time, we were most worried that he would jump off the building. Fortunately, after our persuasion, he agreed to come to the service station with us for further psychological intervention under the condition of undergoing another test."
During the psychological intervention process, the service station also helps the AIDS community with some testing and treatment care. Because AIDS individuals need regular immune system tests and drug treatments, timely notifying them to get tested or take medicine has become an important part of the service station's work.
"We have created a file for each infected individual, and we know who needs testing at what time and will call to notify them," Hai Feng said. The service station also regularly organizes activities such as hiking, walking, and birthday parties.
Discipline: Never Asking What the Other Person's Name Is
When AIDS-infected individuals learn about the QQ group number of the Red Ribbon Volunteer Service Station, they may feel like they have found an organization. But don't be too excited— if you can't answer the "password," it will still be difficult to join this group.
Xiao Ya said that they have an internal QQ group, where everyone except the experts from the disease control center are AIDS individuals. To protect everyone's privacy, they are extremely cautious when adding people. "If the person can answer the questions designed to identify whether they are truly infected, then we will add them to the group. Otherwise, we won't," she explained. Currently, their QQ group already has more than 100 netizens.
Since the Red Ribbon Volunteer Service Station gathers a special group, there are also some unwritten disciplinary rules within this group. For example, every AIDS-infected individual joining the service station does not need to register their real name but can just fill out a pseudonym. Of course, the telephone number must be registered truthfully. In daily interactions, they never ask what the other person's name is, but only use their pseudonyms, "For how each person became infected, we never ask. We are only responsible for providing services and assistance."
To help everyone understand some knowledge about AIDS prevention and treatment, the Red Ribbon Volunteer Service Station often invites some experts to give lectures. If the scale is small, they will hold it at the station; if the scale is large, they will rent a venue outside. At this time, they will also strictly keep confidentiality. They will never clearly tell the rented venue what the lecture content is, and after the lecture starts, they will refuse anyone from entering.
Dialogue: Parents Opposed Initially
Reporter: You are not an AIDS-infected individual, why did you come to be a volunteer?
Xiao Ya: Personal preference. I feel that this group needs someone to help.
Reporter: Do your parents support you being a volunteer?
Xiao Ya: They disagreed initially and strongly opposed it. However, through my persistence, they accepted it.
Reporter: I heard you are a full-time volunteer here, and you only get a few hundred yuan subsidy per month, is it enough?
Xiao Ya: Definitely not enough. Neither Da Hai nor I have enough. However, we both have ways. I am from Qingdao, and my food and accommodation are entirely dependent on my family; Da Hai once worked in South Korea and has some savings.
Reporter: Do you plan to continue doing this forever?
Xiao Ya: At least currently, that's what I think.
Difficulties: Insufficient Funds and Discrimination Still Exists
December 1st is the 23rd "World AIDS Day." Hai Feng believes that this is not only a day closely related to the AIDS community but also a day relevant to everyone. Because in real life, discrimination against AIDS still exists widely, especially in medical treatment and employment. "For example, if an AIDS-infected individual suddenly develops complications and needs surgery and is sent to the hospital, once the hospital knows it is an AIDS patient, the hospital often refuses to perform the surgery for various reasons. Actually, this is because doctors are afraid of getting infected. At the same time, this is also discrimination against AIDS by hospitals." Hai Feng expressed that they hope that hospitals in the city can eliminate this kind of discrimination.
Hai Feng said that recently, China's first "AIDS Employment Discrimination Case" was announced in the first instance, and the plaintiff, an AIDS virus carrier named Xiao Wu, lost the case, which shows the severity of employment discrimination. Hai Feng said that they most hope that society can eliminate discrimination against AIDS, "at least give us an equal opportunity for medical treatment and employment."
Besides the confusion of discrimination, Hai Feng said that they also mainly face the problem of insufficient funds. He pointed to the items in the office and said that computers, sofas, coffee tables, etc., were all donated by others. When they go to the hospital to provide psychological intervention for AIDS-infected individuals, taking a taxi requires money; inviting experts to give lectures also requires fees, and the activity funds are far from enough. Now, they mainly rely on applying for funds from an international fund to carry out activities, but the amount of funds that can be applied is indeed limited. Therefore, apart from Xiao Ya and Da Hai, who are full-time volunteers receiving a few hundred yuan subsidies per month, other volunteers receive no subsidies at all. Reporter Li Zhibo (all characters involved are pseudonyms).