"I knew little about AIDS at that time when officials with the Ministry of
Health approached me," the actress was frank. Theme of the World AIDS Day that
year was "women and HIV/AIDS". She was told later that the Ministry also asked
some other actresses but were turned down because of apprehension of prevalent
bias.
Thus Jiang learnt her first lesson on the importance of promoting AIDS-related
knowledge among the public. "A college graduate, I live in the metropolis of
Beijing and travel all over the world, yet I still have little knowledge about
AIDS, let alone others."
The first HIV infected she met were a family, with whom she was arranged to
take photos. The mother was infected during a blood transfusion. She later
passed the virus to the father and the baby she delivered later was also tested
as HIV positive.
"The mother would shed tears at the mentioning of her disease and the then
7-year-old kid, with herpes already appearing on his neck, was crying all the
time," recalled Jiang bitterly.
Sitting in a car back home, Jiang was silent. "I was so sad," she frowned,
"AIDS is spreading quickly and more people could be infected. It is urgent to
tell them how to protect themselves from this deadly disease."
As a Good Will Ambassador, her major task is to participate in activities on
each World AIDS Day and visit the infected and their families whenever she has
time.
She still remembered that in 2003, when she just began the job, she flushed
with embarrassment when distributing condoms in a shopping center in downtown
Beijing.
Two years later, however, she finished her book Wenli on AIDS to share with
readers her understanding of the disease, which used to be labeled as stigma.
And she wants to do more.
She wants to adopt an orphan left by AIDS victims, but she hasn't found a
suitable one. "Many orphans are too old to adapt to a new environment," she
said.
She has been planning to make a TV serial for three years to show the audience
the plight of HIV infected, their families and children. She said that she will
start on it after her Africa trip.
She has also an idea to set up a "celebrities' cabin", where they can donate
their belongings for sale to help AIDS/HIV-affected people.
"Someday the little cabin may be developed into a charity foundation where all
people can contribute to the combat against AIDS," she said.
Xinhua
