"[The IWMF fellowship] has greatly broadened my vision, changed my way of thinking and strengthened my pursuit of excellent journalism," Hu said.
-Lindsey Wray
Following is an excerpt from Hu’s e-mail to the IWMF.
"After I came back to China, I conducted my first one-week trip to several cities in West China’s Sichuan Province in January. I visited needle exchange centers, methadone maintenance therapy clinics and local CDCs; I talked to medical staff, HIV/AIDS victims, drug users, sex workers, non-government organizations staff and CDC officials. Due to a heavy workload from my newsroom, I had to stop my project and go back to fill the space at our newspaper.
"In late March, I conducted another one-week trip to Central China’s Hubei Province and Southwest China’s Guangxi Province. During that trip, I visited hospitals treating AIDS patients, an AIDS care home in the countryside, needle exchange centers, international organizations involved in harm reduction and medical staff training, and local CDCs. I interviewed poor patients infected through illegal blood selling, doctors who find difficulties to treat so many AIDS patients, peer educators and international volunteers.
"Here in Shanghai, I interviewed local communities that organized the city’s first Candlelight AIDS Memorial event to raise the awareness of HIV/AIDS in May. I also attended an international conference about opportunistic infections of HIV/AIDS held in Shanghai in April.
Based on the interviews above, I had several stories published in the Shanghai Star. But sadly, the epidemic has not gained enough attention in China despite the hard efforts the central government has made. The general public still feels the disease is far from them while the hospitals are not ready. On the other side, this indicates there is a lot work reporters like me can do in the future."
Read the articles Hu wrote as a result of the fellowship:
Drug use and HIV
AIDS awareness
Read an article about Hu at the completion of her stay in the U.S.