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6:18 PM Tuesday, June 8, 2010
{ 3 days to first day of street sales! }

We finally got our team shirts ready! This would be what we are going to wear during street sales for easier identification. With these shirts, we feel even more like a team now!













After completing our shirts, we head down to AfA to meet May to 1. Update her on the progress of our projects 2. Visit the anonymous HIV-testing clinic. May’s colleague gave us a little briefing on the programmes on AfA, which reaches out to different target groups, such as army men, homosexuals, sex workers etc.

The programme which reaches out the sex workers include having volunteers down at places like Chinatown to identify sex workers and handing them condoms to encourage safe sex. The greatest obstacle in this programme is to correctly identify who are the sex workers, and with recent police raids, many of the sex workers have gone into hiding, making it even more difficult to reach out to them.

We were trying to see if there were any publicity materials that we could use from AfA when May showed us this.


This won first prize at a postcard design competition held in an effort to heighten AIDS/ HIV awareness. We all agreed that this postcard is SUPER COOL!!!

After finishing updating May on our progress, Anwar, the clinic manager then brought us to the clinic which was in fact, really near to AFA (walking distance). We were extremely excited as it was the first time for all of us. The clinic was still not open to the public when we reached. Two of the staff volunteering there, Rick and Chris gave us a brief introduction to what the clinic does.

We were told that in the day, the clinic was a specialist clinic for skin diseases and sexually transmitted infections (STI). The place is only rented on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, 6.30pm-8pm, & Saturdays, 1.30-3.30pm to conduct anonymous HIV and Syphilis testing.

Basically, if you’re here for the testing, this is what you would be going through:
1. Fill up a form with your particulars (that does not reveal your identity) and pay $30 for the test at the counter.
2. Take your Q number.
3. Pre-counseling session
4. HIV/ Syphilis test where a drop of you blood would be drawn
5. Results released + Post-counseling

The entire test process probably takes about 45 min. We got to see how the test was done, there was no sophisticated machine required, the technique used was very much like a pregnancy test kit. Drop a drop of blood and buffer onto this “test-paper” (I have no idea what the correct term for that paper is), and let them run, if one line appears, it means you are HIV-negative, if two lines appear, it means you are HIV-positive.

The entire clinic is volunteer-run. This means that the counselors and administrative stuff there are all volunteers who are doing their job without receiving a salary. Rick and Y shared some of their experiences working in the clinic. We were told that majority of the people who come for the test are men, and are from a variety of backgrounds. There are many reasons why people come for the test, such as:

1. They had sex with a sex worker
2. They wanted to check before marriage
3. Routine checks (monthly, yearly etc)
4. Ignorant reasons (he gave us an example of how an entire family, including the children came for the test because they had a meal with a HIV-positive patient)

We learnt more about HIV/ AIDS/ STIs. There were many colourful boards at the clinic which were really informative, giving information regarding the various STIs, which basically can be split into 2 categories: Bacterial infection or Viral infection. The former can be removed from the body completely with the use of antibiotics, while the latter will remain in the body forever, like HIV.

Having listened to what the various volunteers had to say, we basically came to the conclusion that the best way to protect ourselves from STIs would be 1. Abstain from sex, 2. Practise safe sex.

We stayed on when the clinic opened, just to observe the people that come in. For the period while we were in the clinic, everyone who came for the testing were men, with the exception of a single girl. They were mostly young adults, probably in their early 20s, contrary to what we originally expected---old uncles.

The trip to the clinic was truly an eye opener and we learnt a lot from this little ‘excursion’. Thank you to everyone who spent time explaining and giving us information, and of course May, who gave us this opportunity to widen our horizons!

Pictures taken at the clinic:




Posted by: Cheryl