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Now, we have also five mobile movie tracks and can travel and advocate among the public by showing [HIV and sex education] movies, but we need to get prior approval from government authorities. Sometimes it takes one or two months to get permission, which is a constraint the foreign expatriates [from the organization] don’t like. However, as a social activist, I have to be patient about such constraints for the sake of the people.

Q: Can you talk about Burmese women’s attitudes regarding condom use?

A: We have to use a “peer approach” method among high risk groups and encourage people to talk to their peers. The National AIDS Program also adopted a guideline that condom use demonstrations must be conducted among people of the same; that is, women must discuss with women, and men with men. There are some who might be afraid to buy condoms, but the more deeply I become involved in this work, the more I realize that Burmese women’s awareness level is not so low.

Q: There are sex workers in Burma, as there are in other countries, but the conservative nature of Burmese society does not like to accept this reality and the industry is legally prohibited. What strategies do you think are needed for Burma to effectively educate its young people about sex? 

A: In the period between 2000 and 2002, I was warned that there were no sex workers, gay or heterosexual, in Burma. No mention was made in all of my communication products even though commercial sex workers, or CSWs, and men selling sex to men, or MSM, were our targeted groups. Therefore, we launched peer education programs during that period of denial. We went to the nightclubs once a month as part of our HIV education and Aphaw promotion campaigns. We gradually built up networking among CSW and MSM, through which we selected some individuals as interpersonal communicators. Then, we opened drop-in centers and appointed them as peer educators. We have to treat them without discrimination. This is our organization’s rule. Now hundreds of people come to our drop-in centers monthly.

Q: Do you have any final thoughts on your work and your experiences?

A: When I produced my first campaign series, I was pressured not to appear in mass media. But I had to be patient and develop my scripts. I then launched fifteen series without difficulty in 2004. We must take the key and open the closed door of this issue instead of just standing and knocking.