The Bridge of Hope
Japan Trust Fund builds safe sex into Thailand’s infrastructure
In conjunction with contractors, JTF ensured that the safety and security of construction workers building the 2nd Thailand Laos Friendship Bridge became a 24 hour concern.
You’ll get a ready impression from the following pictures – and the full story is at the end of the page.
The 2nd Thailand to Laos Friendship Bridge under construction
Workers’ dormitory accommodation
“Helmets for the Site, Condoms for the Night” billboard
Advisors distributing condoms to the workforce
Workers being informed as part of the peer education programme
Further small-scale pre-shift briefings with workers
Awareness raising in the community
A typical local bar
Construction workers coming off shift
The completed 2nd Friendship Bridge
The project message
As they say on the Mekong river:
“helmet for every site, condom for every night”
Massive construction projects demand massive amounts of manpower. In both the developing and developed world, labourers are commonly temporary, unskilled, migrant and young, and predominantly male. Often, living conditions are poor, sites are isolated and workers end up separated from home and family for months on end. Evening entertainment revolves round local bars and beer holes, and recreation is frequently a macho mix of drink and sex, driven by a ready supply of cash. Local women frequent the area to sell sex, whilst barmaids, waiters and barstaff engage in informal sex work.
As a result, construction workers and the local community are more vulnerable to HIV. JTF identified this as a key area of focus early on. At three immense East Asian infrastructure developments funded by the Government of Japan (which included a $555m, mile-long bridge across the Mekong River), JTF backed HIV education programmes in conjunction with IPPF’s member associations (MAs) in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Indonesia. MAs at each site adopted a mix of tactics and strategies: counselling, testing, mobile clinics, posters, leafleting, peer-education and entertainment/information evenings (“karaoke and condoms”).
Every project produced measurable improvements in awareness and behaviour. At JTF’s “Bridge of Hope” project, for example, HIV and AIDS awareness amongst construction workers hit 92.2% (compared to the local average of 61.7%). This work is now feeding into a widespread international movement to establish workplace policies for HIV and AIDS. Policies which not only recognise the devastating personal impact of HIV on individual workers’ lives, but also the financial impact of poor HIV and AIDS education on companies and whole national economies. It’s a message which will take considerable time to impress upon international policy makers, but a lot less time to communicate to construction workers. As the poster says, “Helmet for every site, condom for every night”.
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