Kunming HomeAids Project

Alma recently returned from a trip to China. Here are her reflections:

Kunming is the capital city of Yunnan province, China. It has an estimated population of 3,740,000 including 1,055,000 in the urban area and is located at the northern edge of the large Lake Dian. Here The Salvation Army works in partnership with Yunan Red Cross in implementing a HomeAids Project. In June the Asia-Pacific Regional team was invited to do a participatory project evaluation of the project.

During the week we were able to meet with several people involved in the project. These individuals are full of stories to share about the changes in their lives, how they got involved and how they are now helping to make a difference in their own communities. About 1000 volunteers are actively engaged and are mobilized.

Story depiction of community volunteers participating in one of the community meetings

Here are few of the excerpts from the discussion with the volunteers:

“I am just only one month volunteer but I found new meaning in helping communities. I like to do the drama performances. These help me to share my personal experiences. My parents don’t believe that I can break away from drugs. Now, I haven’t been in drug detox but I am clean.”

“ I came from west side of Kunming. I happen to know HomeAids from my friends. HomeAids teaches community and I wanted to know more about HIV/AIDS. I stopped using drugs. I am now able to help former drug users. We come together, communicate with each other and share how to keep ourselves clean.”

There are so many testimonies telling of the changes people have experienced when they started to find meaning in their lives through the value people give them. People have the capacity to change and develop. From the community meetings we observed and heard that former drug users are now working with the district director and policeman. They used to say that they were discriminated against but they now find that people begin to understand them as people.

A picture of Hope and Acceptance. Former drug user happy participating and helping with community activities.

People undergo the process of change. Change happens as we continue to listen, to help support one another, and to learn from each other’s experiences. Each story that we heard validates that people need each other in order to change. Change is possible together.

The Beach Boys & Shop 16...We're all on a journey

Down south in Sri Lanka, Hikkaduwa is known for its beautiful beaches and as such is a popular place for tourists to visit. It was also a town hit hard by the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2005.




The Salvation Army has been doing a lot of work there, not only with tsunami reconstruction but also in the area of HIV & AIDS. For many of the young men that live there, employment options are limited. There are limited labouring jobs, at best temporary, and there is of course the seasonal fluctuation of jobs within the tourism industry... and the hidden - ugly - side to tourism, that is the sex industry. A team mate working in the area told me a story about the local 'Beach Boys' in March that taught me on a much deeper level, the importance of being in relationship with people...of journeying with them.

In an area where unemployment is high, the team in Hikkaduwa have been starting a lot of sports activities in the community to not only give them something to do and an alternative to sitting and drinking, but to build relationships. In talking to these young men that they've become friends with, they were gently asking questions about thier choices to engage in prostitution with tourists, it was clear that they were not taking ownership of the health risks involved, the risks of contracting HIV & STD's. They were aware of them...but it wasn't a factor in thier decision making process. The youth often have this idea that they are 'invicible', young and strong, "It won't happen to me" attitude. It is for this reason that no amount of telling them what to do, or awareness programs alone will change thier behaviour. However, sadly there often comes a time when either them or a friend, does become the person that it happened to...If we are not there journeying with them, we may miss that 'light bulb' moment, where not only do they now understand the risks you were talking about in very real way, but they turn to you for support and advice... They give us permission to help guide them on a path to health and healing.


This week we were out at "Shop 16" in Reservoir, Melbourne and I was once again reminded about this lesson, that we journey with people in order to bring about behaviour change, to bring about health, healing and wholeness. How can such different places, different issues, different cultures, teach me the same lesson?


'Shop 16' is an amazing...to say 'place' would be misleading...i will say family and community that inhabit a shop front as thier home. During the morning out there, we spent some time thinking about how care is expressed within the Shop 16 community, but also what changes have occurred as a result of the care. A common reflection was that care is shown through acceptance and respect regardless of life circumstances . But also how the care that is shown for the kids and family has slowly evolved into a community culture that sets healthy expectations on each other. For example, the kids expect each other to actually go to school, or that after school they will look for work rather than rely on welfare etc....this is a huge shift in the attitutes and culture of the area. There is real behaviour change, that in the long term will break the cycle that is often generational. But this only comes through a long term, relational and loving acceptance of people and believing in people's capacity to care, change and make decisions for themselves that will bring hope for a healthier life.

Its all about Community Ownership...

Following exert comes from an article in The Age, "Another tricky Howard ruse", Gregory Phillips, June 23, 2007

"Nobody denies that sexual abuse and alcoholic dysfunction in indigenous communities is a massive problem. Many Aborigines have long advocated for better services to deal with the issues, and have strongly asserted that alcoholism and sexual abuse are not a part of Aboriginal culture. It is, in fact, a learned behaviour.

Where did Aborigines learn it? It is partly a hangover of the missionary days only 20 and 30 years ago, where sexual violence was routinely perpetrated on Aborigines by police, pastoralists and missionaries, and where the church often forced people to marry against their social and cultural clan systems. This is not an excuse for abuse today, but it is part of the reason people are behaving this way now. Sure, the abuser must take responsibility for these terrible actions, and sure, society has a responsibility to protect children. But to do so only through the law has never worked either here or overseas.

There's no evidence that dealing with addictions and sexual abuse through legal, criminal or administrative systems alone works. It might help alleviate some physical injury and perhaps prevent a small amount of abuse, but it doesn't address the emotional and mental turmoil that gave rise to the behaviour in the first place.

By contrast, Native Canadian communities in crisis with sexual abuse have turned the issue around in 10 years by community-led action, by government being prepared to listen to and trust local community leaders, and by supporting communities themselves to make the abuse of alcohol a socially unacceptable behaviour. "