HAPPY FIFTH NIGHT OF HANUKKAH EVERYONE!!!!
I put a picture of a menorah outside of my room, an action which has resulted in my relating the story of the good ol’ Maccabees a good four or five times.
Before going to China, I had to get an HIV test. If the results had been positive, I wouldn’t be in China right now. Terrible, right? Funny thing is, before October 30th, 2009, if a Chinese person tried to get into the States with positive test results, s/he wouldn’t be able to get in, either.
China is one of the remaining six countries that bans foreigners with HIV/AIDS from entering the country. The ban may be lifted for the Shanghai expo which will take place next year, the China Daily reported today.
HIV/AIDS is a global issue, but it seems as though China and Africa have received the most attention from the global media outlets in the past few years.
For World AIDS Day, the Global Times published a feature on the current status of HIV/AIDS in China, which includes an update on issues relating to stigma and homosexuality in China. Also, the Xinhua News Agency, the Party’s central media mouthpiece, published a timeline of China’s improvement on these issues (you can find it in the Times feature).
Here are some of the important dates:
June 1985: China’s first AIDS case is reported when an Argentine-American traveler dies at Peking Union Medical College Hospital.
1990: China HIV/AIDS Prevention Committe established.
1998: HIV infections are reported in all 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, with drug users accounting for 60-70 percent of reported infections.
1999: The Ministry of Health unveils a new regulation concerning rights of HIV/AIDS citizens: their privacy should not be infringed and medical organizations should not refuse to treat them.
2003: On World AIDS Day, Premier Wen Jiabao becomes the first Chinese premeir to shake hands with an HIV-positive person.
2004: President Hu Jintao talks with AIDS patients in Beijing and shakes hands with them on November 30.
2006: The first HIV/AIDS Prevention Rule is put into practice on March 1.
When reading this, two things stood out for me: one, it is really shocking how quickly the disease spread in China (the mainland currently has an estimated 740,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, though only 319,877 cases have been recorded, according to the Ministry of Health), and two, I was dismayed at the fact that “shaking hands” (really, the act of touching) was still newsbreaking in 2004 – even though formal acts such as the handshake hold more weight in China than they do in the States.
And, even with all of the reform, the stigma present in Chinese culture and experienced by HIV/AIDS victims is still overwhelming and debilitating. Actually, the UNAIDS in Beijing keeps a statistical record of this. If you want to check it out, read the The China Stigma Index Report, which was released in 2009. Out of a survey of 2000 people, 48.2 percent of those interviewed feared that if their statuses were exposed, other people would not engage in physical contact with them. Perhaps more upsetting is that 49.4 percent feared that they would not be allowed to be near other people’s children.
As noted in Xinhua’s release, breaches of privacy are against China’s policy. However, the Index reported that ”One third of all respondents said that their status had been revealed to others without their permission.”
So, China still has a lot to deal with when it comes to HIV/AIDS. I don’t know how it can effectively deal with this crisis without also dealing with the stigma of homosexuality. My good friend here has a new boyfriend who is a student at the renowned Beijing Film Academy. Before meeting him, he had told me that he was “shy.” But, what I saw in this third-year amateur auteur was a frightened individual. And though my friend is more open about his sexual preferences than his partner, he, too, has to keep things under wraps in the dorm, lest some of the vocally homophobic male students on the floor discover his sexual identity.
So, as open as China wants to be to the “world,” that is, the international HIV/AIDS community, it still has internal issues of great magnitude.
But, before anyone begins to look to China for HIV/AIDS problems, make sure you look at your own country first. It wasn’t until this year that the United States ended its two-decade long discrimination against the world’s HIV/AIDS victims. Is “HIV/AIDS victim” synonymous with “irresponsible individual”? Anyway, on October 30th of this year, Obama signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Extension Act, lifting a 22-year ban on international HIV/AIDS victims, the Washington Post reported. So, rah-rah. Honestly, I’m not clapping any hands until I see some serious immigration reform and some federal- no, Obama - support of gay marriage.
This entry is a break from the norm, as it’s about an issue at home in Teaneck, NJ. Our family’s dog, Lady, died on Friday, October 16th at 5 PM in our home. She had just been diagnosed with lung cancer the day before. She was 10 years, 4 months, and 12 days old.
My last entry is now grotestque in light of this debilitating news, and I’m inclined to delete it. But I won’t. I think it’s important to recognize the stark juxtaposition between a dog’s role in the States and in certain places in China. But, everyone should know that there are plenty of dog owners in China who would never think about eating dog.
Enough about that. Here’s this: the news of Lady’s death jarred me so much that I could barely leave my room today. It’s been really hard to cope with Lady’s death from out here – I wish I could be home to touch one of her dog hairs or wash her food bowl for the last time. Thankfully, the family will wait for me before we spread her ashes at her favorite park.
In order to commemorate her life, I thought it would be a good idea if the readers of this blog could post a comment about their favorite Lady moment. Lady wasn’t only a part of the Lefkowitz family, she was a part of our extended friends’ and families’ lives as well, and I know that she will be remembered by everyone as a loving, warm, silly, nudgy, attention-seeking, beautiful, playful, energetic, and all around wonderful dog.
I think my favorite memories of Lady are those from this past spring. I didn’t have class until the afternoon, so I was able to sleep in later than the rest of the family. As everyone was getting up and ready to go at around 7:30 am, Lady would come to my room and paw on the door. I’d always get up and let her in, and then we’d sleep a few more hours together before I had to start my day. I was also writing my thesis during this time and I needed a lot of breaks to get through some of the longer chapters. So every day or so, Lady and I would go on an extended walk around the neighborhood. The walks were very therapeutic for me and I would always thank Lady for keeping me company during the super stressful moments.
For Lady though, I’m sure that her favorite moments were those spent at the reservoir, running in front of us - always waiting when we were out of eyeshot – off of the leash, taking a swim, and meeting other dogs.
Beyond all the fun though, Lady was serious about doing her part in the house. In exchange for food and shelter, Lady gave us unremitting love and her guard services. She was always there to accompany us while we engaged in the lonelier activities of the day, aka making a sandwich, watching TV, taking a nap. Moreover, she kept our house “safe,” in her terms, of course: newcomers and mailmen were always given their due welcome from the living room window, and a mouse seems to have kept himself in check for over a year (my mom saw him ages ago and no one believed her – he popped out right after my dad moved Lady out of the house).
So those are some of my memories and comments on Lady. Please write down your favorite memory. I’m sure it’ll help us all fill the void that is left in her wake.
Maddy and Lady at the reservoir in 2005
Going for a swim in 2005
Her favorite position
Sporting Maddy's teddy
Jay and Lady in 2006
Chilling under the carpet
In August 2009
Our perennial puppy
Fun in the sun and the mud in October 2009