The
exhibition Pain and Hope tells the stories of people living with HIV and is one
of ten national events being held this year to mark the 20 years since the first
case of HIV/AIDS case was diagnosed in Viet Nam.

Speaking for themselves: The exhibition allows visitors to listen to people with HIV tell their own stories. (Photo: VNS)

Since that time, public awareness
and education about HIV education have increased considerably, but this was the
first time the HIV epidemic has been approached from the perspective of a museum
exhibition, said museum director Vo Quang Trong.

“The exhibition aims to encourage
wide discussions in society about the HIV epidemic and related issues and create
an opportunity for people living with HIV and people working in HIV prevention
to share and exchange experiences and professional knowledge, as well as to look
back at the response to AIDS by people living with HIV, the Government, and
society as a whole in the past 20 years,” said Trong.

Through the images and voices of
health officers, journalists, volunteers, religious organisations, scientists,
and people living with HIV, the exhibition uses the museum language to guide
visitors through different stages of emotion experienced by people living with
HIV and those working in HIV prevention, he said.

“This is extremely difficult work,
but the lessons of the world can’t be applied in Viet Nam,” said Nguyen Thi Hue city
from HCM City’s AIDS Prevention Committee. “Although peer models are very
successful, it depends on the culture of each country. We took things
step-by-step. At first, I simply had to obey what my organisation was telling
me. Then I began to understand and sympathise with the people.”

Materials for this exhibition were
gathered from three research sites in the northern city of Hai Phong, the
northern province of Dien Bien and HCM City. Materials also came from
organisations and individuals in Ha Noi, the northern province of Ninh Binh, the
central province of Quang Binh and the southern province of An Giang.

The resulting exhibition has been
arranged into sections entitled Pain, Stigma, Will to Live, Joint Forces and
Grateful Hearts.

Nguyen Thi Khuyen, 13, a girl from
HCM City who lost her mother to AIDS, spoke about her plastic piggy bank
displayed in the exhibition.

“My adoptive mother sometimes gives
me money to put in a piggy bank, so I take the money out once a year and buy
offerings on the anniversary of my mother’s death,” Khuyen said.

Visitors to the exhibition have
left many messages in a guestbook for those afflicted with HIV.

“You are very courageous that you
can face the stigma and society’s prejudice,” wrote one visitor. “Be patient and
strong to show how valuable you are.”

The exhibition, co-sponsored by the
Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology and the Centre for Community Health Research and
Development, runs through June of next year.

During the event, the Viet Nam
Museum of Ethnology is also holding ongoing educational activities and events
for young visitors to help them experience the exhibition space and more fully
understand the HIV epidemic in Viet Nam.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News