Teachers help pupils to be optimistic

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Liu Liping was busy trying to coax her student, "Little Monkey", to take his cold medicine.

The 9-year-old had a fever from sleeping under an air conditioner and almost burst into tears when he was told he might have to sit out a class trip to a theme park.

Liu has good reason to be cautious about the boy's health. Just like his 25 other classmates, "Little Monkey" is HIV-positive.

The students from Red Ribbon School in Linfen, Shanxi province, were among 103 youngsters from around China who recently enjoyed a six-day tour of Beijing's historic sites, parks and museums.

China Red Ribbon Foundation, a charity that helps people with HIV/AIDS, organized the event to raise awareness against discrimination.

Zhang Ying, chairman of the Fuyang AIDS Orphan Salvation Association, led more than 70 children from Anhui province, and about half were HIV-positive.

Twelve-year-old Gao Jun, who appeared in the Oscar-winning documentary The Blood of Yingzhou District, was one of them.

Life has improved since 2004 when the association began to help the boy, who lost his parents to AIDS, Zhang said. He is also in a video released by the national health authorities on Dec 1 that calls for elimination of discrimination against HIV carriers.

"It's hard to tell how many people the public service advocacy and the documentary he took part in have influenced, but becoming famous hasn't changed his life much," said Zhang, adding that now the boy lives in a place provided by the association together with four other HIV-positive orphans.

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