A while back, I wrote about the Women’s Health Center in Wuhan, a small non-profit based in Wuchang that provides basic health services, education and counselling for at-risk women, particularly sex workers. Last week the director of the center posted a short summary of their plan for the next year on her blog, and since it gives a good summary of what they do, Tony (who has been helping the center apply for funding and coordinating volunteers to help with fundraising and translation) forwarded it on to me for translation into English. Below is my rough translation (original here). I’m a big fan of the center’s work, and the more support they have, the more they’ll be able to do. So if any readers are either interested in volunteering directly, or know of potential funding opportunities, let me know and I’ll forward you on to the right people.
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The focus of the Women’s Health Center’s work in the past few years
Originally posted on 3 February, 2010
In the past year, our main work has consisted of raising awareness on HIV/AIDS prevention through outreach; reducing fear; raising awareness of safety and protection; and providing free women’s health checks, as well as free HIV and drug tests.
This year we will continue with last year’s work. Wuhan city stretches out over a wide area, and there are still some low-end districts that we have not yet covered. This year we have to completely cover all of Wuhan’s low-end entertainment districts. I hope that when our colleague Chen Haiyan returns to us, her first promise will be: “Ms Liu, I promise that this year we will cover all of the low-end districts, to the point where our outreach work will have a coverage rate of 100 percent!” OK, that’s the first task for Chen Haiyan when she returns back to work.
As for our student volunteer, Lan Xin, this year the OB/GYN nurse’s office will be your focus! I hope you will be able to direct this office well. I can only provide social power and financial support. The questions of medical expertise and enlisting the support of gynaecologists to conduct exams are entirely your responsibility. Whatever plans you think are best, after we’ve discussed them together, don’t delay in turning them into reality.
There’s one student volunteer I haven’t yet mentioned: you will serve as the marshal for our main tasks, with responsibility for implementation of our activities.
And as for me, I’ll be responsible for maintaining the network and contacts we have built with the girls, for our contacts with others, and for managing our overall work.
Our areas of focus for this year are: reproductive health, treatment of sexually-transmitted diseases, and HIV testing.
Our plan for 2011 is: founding subgroups among sex workers for the prevention of AIDS, the activities centre for the girls, and study of work safety (it’s only with two to three years of foundation-building that we begin work on these projects, since only with the necessary conditions in place can success be possible).
Our plan for 2012 is: to spread and support existing sex worker’s groups for the prevention of AIDS (with the goal of helping them to exist independently and to grow healthily)
In 2013, if everything goes smoothly, we will lay down a new plan of action.