Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) Awareness Campaign

Our story

I entered ourselves in World Aids Day's website as conjunction with the significance of today's date; 1st December 2005.

Wear a red ribbon today and remember those innocent children, men and women, those who are dying, those who are fighting and those who are still ignorant about this disease - it's better to be safe than sorry.

A true account of a HIV testing in KL

According to sashiweb,

Here is a blogger who won an MAC Red Ribbon Media Award for his post, Guide to HIV Testing in Malaysia.

It is a very thorough account of how to go about having HIV testing. He also explains the procedure and pretty much covered up what you need to know about the different sorts of tests as well.

I believe anonymous testing should be adhered as well. For me personally, I must admit, I have been in the PJ Health Office Centre in Kelana Jaya with my group members to collect brochures and posters for our campaign. The staff there was nice and one of them was instructed to assist me in getting the database to be charted into graphs for our exhibition.

As I followed him into his room and watched his computer churned out a timetable, I was aghast to know there were NAMES of people in FULL including their IC and age.

They were HIV-infected people.

I saw a name with the age in the early fiftees.

And then my eyes glanced to another who was only 7.

I wondered, is this an intrusion of privacy and against your right for an anonymous testing?

Plus, if so I must add, this is the database for those infected in Petaling Jaya itself.

Nevertheless, the staff never did mail me the charts for the STD exhibition.

It would be interesting to know how were the rates like despite on-going efforts to eduate the public.

But it seems HIV/AIDS will remain a continuous battle to shed the public's perception that they are invisible to the disease. When in fact they might be walking down the streets bumping shoulders with one another and not knowing they might have passed the disease subsequently.

If you're in a new relationship, please always go for a STD and/or HIV/AIDS test. You might at least prevent the circle from coming in full.

Drug company Merck & Co. designs HPV vaccine

According to news resource CNN.com, the drug Gardasil designed to prevent cervical cancer has been proven to block the infections of two types of HPV namely the variant HPV-16 and HPV-18.

It has also been recorded women who were give those vaccine were found to have not developed painful and threatening lesions that can turn cancerous and lead to cervical cancer.

However, the ethical issue that has been brought up is concerned with the widely proposed idea of having the vaccine given to school children as young as 10 up to high school. Some parents think that children will have the notion that they are permitted to have sex after being vaccinated if so.

We've been featured in the media

I know this is kinda late but it's never too late than never.

R.A.G.E. featured us thrice in their new college pullout with The Star. That's our logo. Surprisingly they chose our logo over our group picture

A clipping from Metro, The Star.

We're on bernama.com as well!

Sorry, I can't read Chinese so can't translate either

Thanks to Mr Sudesh of Eric Pringles, Taylor's College's external Public Relations who kept the clippings for us. That's the only support we've got from them.

Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir read my email!

I kinda miss organizing the campaign come to think of it. It's like something's been missing from part of you. The planning, scheduling, and all. I must say, the hands-on part may be tiring but I have to say, I enjoyed the adrenaline rush from it. If we had a chance to do it all over again, I would jump at that chance, knowing we could have better it every single moment.

We, or more like, I, was hoping Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir could have at least grace our launch but she didn't R.S.V.P so it was alright.

One of my fave highlights was knowing she had read my email would truly be a memory behold.

I'd hope she would be proud of us truly. But, I know Datin Salmah was and without her, we wouldn't have called our campaign a success either.

Susan, Datin Salmah and myself, Reta

Did I mention my other favourite highlight was Kak Salmah? I love her to bits =) I might volunteer and assist her for Malaysian AIDS Council coming October 15th for World Vision's Famine event. As much as she had supported us, the least I could do, is the same.

What next?

The first week after the campaign ended, had us all chilling and basking in the moment of stress-free. Yea, please give us another day... yes and another...

There is still a HUGE amount of paperwork for us to do ya'll!

Not only that, some of us have been offered to volunteer and aid Datin Salmah during the Worldvision's Famine event by giving short lectures to participants which would be held on Oct 15th if I'm not mistaken. So, looking at our schedule, we would be delighted to be of help.

Anyhow, we have to compile our final report of what we had done before, during and after the campaign. Plus we have to sipher through our questionnaires and code them and run SPSS so we could know what you folks out there think of our campaign so far.

I must say, some of the comments people had left with us, had touched us pretty much. Oh, and I musn't forget that ONE guy in our workshop who commented to the question posted by Datin Salmah of What made you come to this STD campaign? to which he replied (in the most accurate manner I could remember),

"Before this campaign, I knew nothing about STD and after attending this campaign it is a good effort put together by this students"

I swear my heart went all out to him at that point.

It doesn't matter that we had to use our own money, nor not being able to get famous (femes) local celebs nor putting together a big bash and a ball of fun, we still manage to pull this one.

And mind you, this are the OWN efforts of ten girls in the committee team. No hiring anyone except for printing purposes; down from the designing process to getting the freebies.

I must highlight some of the good and the bad that we were told of. Laugh at your own expense.

The constructive and good comments
1. It was good enough
2. Make a lot more games
3. More exciting (I must admit we forgot about our Battle of the Sexes quiz as we were of tight schedule)
4. Make it in English (with reference to the video by Red Communication - hey I'm sure you guys can understand simple BM, no?)

The hmm comments
1. By being more perverted (?!?!)
2. By giving more freebies (the future sponsors should hear from this!)
3. More publicity to other schools, colleges (well, we had gone to promote to Metropolitan students who allowed us in, the other colleges didn't allow but to stick our posters up. So, maybe it wasn't a strategic area the posterboards)
4. wo pu che tau (translation: I don't know)
5. my lil Johnny says always wear @ condom (with a condom scribbling, someone wasn't paying attention during the workshop..... nevertheless, nice artwork)

this one just takes the cake lah...

4th and last day - Workshops

Time: 10 - 12pm
Workshop #1

The first workshop was manned by Soroptimist International Club of Bangsar. Ms Yeo and Ms. Sim both got the students up and interacting with one another with activities such as, what matters most as your view as a male/female. Surprisingly, the males answered care, love, honesty whereas the females answered money, car, etc. That's a change amongst the gender's perception these days.

The theme that was mainly concentrated upon is youth and relationships and it was pinpointed over and over again that one should not be pressurised to have sex unless one is ready. Even so, precautions should be taken up.

They were also were instructed to form small groups where they drew up their ideas on the mahjong paper provided and each leader who went up for a short presentation were rewarded with small gifts. See if your picture is up here!

The students also had a short cross-road junction game in which they line dup in a line to decide whether they should answer a yes or a no to each situation given to them.

Time: 1-3pm

Workshop #2

Datin Salmah, a Education Training Officer from Malaysian AIDS Council, lends us her time to conduct a workshop as well. She got the students to form a line as well and did the cross-road junction role. She awarded some students with MAC's special badges when they answered the questions with their own opinions.

After that, a video done by Red Communications was played with characters enacted with different roles in different scenarios that were applicable to real life. After each pauses, she proceeded to prompt the audience of what they had watched and what was wrongly depicted.

When the video was over, Datin Salmah gave an educational approach on how to properly put on a condom using a penis model with May, a student, showing us how so.

Datin Salmah also introduced us to the female diaphragm and dental dams, two other preventive measures besides the condom that can be used to protect one from STD and/or HIV/AIDS.

After the session was over, a short quiz was asked again to see if students remembered facts and information.

At about 3pm, Susan directed the students outside to catch the RED 104.9 cruisers who came to distribute more freebies and students continued to participate in more games.