Vienna 2010: Orange Robe, Red Ribbon – Lesson for Sri Lanka?
20 July 2010 – A HOLISTIC, COMMUNITY-BASED BUDDHIST EDUCATION PROJECT IN NORTHERN THAILAND WINS AN INTERNATIONAL HIV/AIDS AWARD
The sound of chanting floats down from the white-washed sala on the hill through the gathering darkness among fruit trees scattered about the slope below. Large umbrellas in various earth tones and draped with mosquito nets hang on ropes strung between the trees, giving an eerie impression of mushroom-like UFOs tied up and left for the night. The steady high chirping of invisible cicadas adds to the peaceful, otherworldly ambience.
It is the eve of Vishakha Bucha Day, an auspicious holiday celebrating the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death. On this warm May evening, the Peaceful Centre for Dharma Practice is hosting 24 students and orange-clad novices and who have come from surrounding temples and villages for a special two-day ‘learning camp’ in honour of the day. They will hear about the Buddha’s life and teachings, chant and meditate together, receive training in life skills – including information on HIV prevention -, and meet community members who are living with the disease. This combination of activities may seem odd, but the Centre’s founder and current director, Phra Ajaan Thanee Titaviriyo, knows what he is doing.
“Every community has its own, specific problems that are linked to many other areas in daily life,” he explains. “So if we address HIV/AIDS, we can also deal with related issues like poverty alleviation…All things are inter-connected – livelihoods, the environment, health and HIV, spirituality and so on. This is the basis of a holistic approach…”
Deciding to apply the concept of sustainable development as its foundation, Ajaan Thanee, who has a PhD in the same subject, established the Centre about seven years ago. Supporters who knew his dedication as principal of the nearby Kong Lom Temple School provided the funds.
Up winding roads through Chiang Mai province’s forested hills and close to the Burmese border, the Centre is located in Wiang Haeng district on 30 rai of land and today resembles a thriving farm community. Fifteen members of the Novices AIDS Intervention and Rehabilitation Network, or NAIRN, are housed here; the youngest novice is eight years old. Other members and NAIRN’s Wiang Haeng branch are headquartered at Kong Lom Temple.
The Novices Network was launched with the express purpose of mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS at community level by providing novices with the knowledge and skills to reach out to their peer group and others.
This innovative project has been so successful that it was awarded the international Red Ribbon Award, which honours the efforts of effective grassroots interventions on HIV/AIDS. Sponsored by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the award includes a sizeable grant and is presented every two years at the International HIV/AIDS Conference (IAC), including this year in Vienna, Austria. The Novices Network was this year selected as one of 25 winners from over 670 nominees globally and appears to be a very worthy awardee.
Ajaan Thanee shares the background: “HIV/AIDS was spreading in the community…affecting everyone – monks, novices, villagers, government officials. Because it was creating so much unhappiness, it seemed an appropriate issue for monks and temples to address, as they are seen as a refuge for the populace. I felt that two things had to be the basis for action: better knowledge, which improves the quality of life, and compassion. We as the monastic community should give encouragement to…people affected by HIV. We had to help villagers understand this and work together to prevent further infections, in addition to treating and caring for those who were sick.”
And so the novices received training as peer educators.
It is hard to imagine boys and young men like the ones involved in NAIRN without witnessing them ‘live’: playful and rambunctious as any other children or teenagers during their free time, they will as part of the Centre’s daily routine get up at 5:00 am, cheerfully do chores like cleaning latrines, work hard for hours weeding fields or planting vegetables and then sit silently meditating.
They are completely and endearingly earnest about their conviction that the Dharma is the appropriate path to finding happiness in this life. And even though the Dharma’s core purpose is attractively straightforward – doing and being good every day to the best of one’s abilities – this is clearly not so obvious a life choice among modern youth.
Novice Ang Loong Moong has been here for three years and is in grade 12 of the Kong Long Temple School. His plan is to go on to a Buddhist university in Chiang Mai – though afterwards he wants to return and work at the Centre.
“Training combining Buddhism and HIV/AIDS education is important because HIV/AIDS can be a threat to people who do not know the Dharma.” He feels that “once they are more aware the Dharma helps them – for example they are no longer interested in partying or…drinking and sex…”
One of the first novices in the project, Luang Pi Cheerasuk Chittatunto ordained as a monk last year and currently manages the Centre’s daily activities. A charismatic, outgoing young man, Luang Pi (his religious title) is only 21, but serves as an ideal representative for the project and role model to his peers. He speaks with great eloquence about NAIRN’s work.
According to him “an important point with HIV/AIDS is that we treat the heart rather than the body…It is about getting rid of our desires, making it easier to stay firm, not believe things too quickly and resist pressure to do things or act a certain way.”
For him, NAIRN is not only about educating the novices about HIV/AIDS, but a whole life philosophy. “The [boys] need to be safe from HIV/AIDS…, but we also need to try and ensure their happiness, motivate them to have goals and follow their dreams. Everyone has dreams and [the Centre’s training] gives them the opportunity to realize theirs…We can support children to develop self-esteem and be able to go out and share what they have learned, thus building a stronger community.”
Like most of the novices and students from Wiang Haeng, Luang Pi is of Shan origin. This fact is a key to understanding the Novices AIDS Intervention and Rehabilitation Network’s (NAIRN) motivation and vision. Shan people have lived in this cross-border region for generations.
About eight years ago, violence flared up between the Shan State and the United Wa armies near a temple right on the border, Wat Fa Wiang Inn, also known as “One Temple, Two Countries”. The Burmese army moved in and occupied the temple grounds on the Burmese side, effectively cutting it in half and bringing the hitherto amicable interactions between the Burmese/Shan and Thai residents of the temple to a halt.
Many people in the area fled the violence into Thailand.
“They lost their homes, their jobs, parents died,” Luang Pi recounts. “These families were welcomed by two Thai temples near the border for some months to provide shelter, help them understand the situation and offer comfort. The monks started teaching the displaced individuals about Dharma, helping them cope much better. The important, inter-related topics of HIV/AIDS, human trafficking and drug use were also addressed, creating a strong basis of awareness.”
These migrants are neither legal refugees nor immigrants – they have no documents and are therefore open to exploitation. Dangers include sex trafficking, involvement in the drug trade and exposure to infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS. Parentless boys were particularly vulnerable, and Kong Lom Temple accepted them as students.
Ajaan Thanee recognized how important it was for these youngsters “…to take responsibility for their own livelihoods. Our main goals were, first, to let the novices learn and study both academic subjects and life skills; second, to grow enough food to feed all the resident novices…; and, third, to establish a place for the community – youth and other interested people – to come and exchange ideas, learn together and practice right living.”
A former novice and one of tonight’s visiting trainees, Pornchai Lungpang who disrobed last year to help his impoverished parents at home, says “I would definitely tell my friends to come join one of the training camps because they will be exposed to many different areas important to life, such as the Dharma and also hands on work experience. Here there is a greater variety in what we learn and I feel I gain a different kind of experience than other youth…”
Luang Pi Cheerasuk considers “the children…the new shoots we see growing into the next generation. They are the best example that we can overcome problems and find existing opportunities in our life.”
HIV/AIDS and related health questions are integrated into the life skills section of the curriculum implemented by NAIRN via the Centre. Trainers understand the need to address the potentially devastating emotional impact of HIV on not only people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) but also their families, friends and the wider community.
Emotional instability can give rise to fear, stigma, discrimination, anxiety and stress. The project thus uses Dharma theory and practice to strengthen participants’ emotional state, such as developing patience, acceptance and compassion for others. It also includes spiritual support and care for PLHIV.
NAIRN and the Centre foster a warm relationship with numerous groups and organisations working with health and HIV/AIDS, including the Wiang Haeng Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) – called ‘Path Towards a New Life Group’. The group’s members are incorporated into the Centre’s training sessions and regularly join events to share their experience and answer participants’ questions.
The overall situation “…was very bad in the past,” the group’s president, Khun Samak Jaidee, remembers. “When I found out I was positive, some people started looking down on me…The worst thing was that my son’s school didn’t allow him to attend when they found out I was positive, and our neighbours put up a fence so that their chickens wouldn’t mix with ours…”
Fear-driven contempt from fellow villagers was widespread at the time. “When I was a child, I used to be scared of fellow villagers with HIV, but now I understand that there is nothing to be afraid of,” former novice Pornchai says.
All agree on the positive difference NAIRN and the Centre’s work has made.
“The Centre’s outreach work showed villagers that all diseases are the same,” another member of the PLHIV group feels. “The monks and novices have helped a lot by training both villagers and PLHIV.”
It seems the orange-robed trainers are well-deserving of the red ribbon this year.
Ajaan Thanee admits he is “…happy that NAIRN received the award…[It] is actually for all the people of Wiang Haeng district, and every child taking part in the training – because everyone has to be included in recognition of their commitment. It is a good encouragement for the novices and others in the community to continue their work.”
He and Luang Pi Cheerasuk are taking part in the International HIV/AIDS Conference (IAC) in Vienna this week (18-23 July 2010). They are sharing the message that it does indeed take “…a community to solve a problem; this can be adapted at the global level with any issue, HIV/AIDS or global warming, and many others. We humans are our best resource, we just have to learn how to develop and apply this appropriately. And of course those who are part of the problem must also be part of the solution.”
It is tough to find fault with a holistic HIV/AIDS impact mitigation strategy that promotes accurate information, generosity and compassion at its heart. And the youngsters who have gathered at the Peaceful Centre for Dharma Practice for two days of contemplation, discussion and labour are the best ambassadors – a small community of individuals focused on learning and doing good, here and now, at a very personal level.
The chanting comes to an end: it is time for evening meditation. Candles leading down the path from the sala line the boardwalk around a large pond that is partly covered in lotus flowers and mirrors the indigo sky above. Dusk settles into night, and as they walk barefoot over wooden planks, the novices’ orange robes shimmer in the fading light.
By Constanze Ruprecht
Originally published in Guidelines Magazine
www.guidelineschiangmai.com
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