Wei Tingting and Beijing Gender Health Education Institute: Experiences of the first China AIDS Walk

Wei Tingting has been working at the Beijing Gender Health Education Institute since 2011 and is currently a project manager with a focus on the China AIDS Walk (CAW).

In 2012, China AIDS Walk organized 20 fundraising and anti-discrimination events through partnerships with universities, the LGBT community, foreign embassies and gay social clubs. 45 fundraising teams were formed and 120 people from six countries participated in the Walk. Ten celebrities supported the event via video message, social media and direct participation. Pleasure Up and Durex provided funding, and four fundraising events were organized in Beijing bars. Approximately 3,400 individuals donated to China AIDS Walk and it received media attention in the Chinese and foreign press. Several foreign embassies, international organizations and community-based organizations actively supported CAW. Walkers raised 164,705 RMB (roughly $27,000 USD). Funds facilitated access to antiretroviral treatment for impoverished PLHA, and supported initiatives by a local HIV/AIDS community based organizations.

Wei Tingting presented on integration of different resources including celebrities, media, businesses and non-profit sector through collaboration based on clear communication of needs and expectations. She highlighted that the project was not a simple fundraising event, but a project to educate the public in tolerance and non-discrimination, while giving prominent exposure to the local LGBT population as a positive force.

This piece is the fourth in a series introducing you to the partners that Asia Catalyst is supporting through scholarships, strategy and translation to attend the 11th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. The Congress brought together over 4,000 delegates from 22 countries in the region in Bangkok this month.