The Banyan Tree Project is a national campaign to end the silence and shame surrounding HIV/AIDS in Asian and Pacific Islander (A&PI) communities. The Banyan Tree Project produces an annual social marketing campaign, the National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and Capacity Building Assistance (CBA) programs, targeting community-based organizations serving Asians and Pacific Islanders.
"The shortest distance between a human being and Truth is a story." — Anthony de Mello
Do you have a personal story to tell about HIV, but you don't know how to tell it? Learn how by using the power of digital storytelling. In this free, three-day workshop you will create a video of your story using images and music. Get a $75 gift card for participating!
Download the application packet to read the participant requirements for this training. Please note that this training is in Berkeley, CA and is open to San Francisco Bay Area residents only.
SAVING FACE CAN'T MAKE YOU SAFE. TALK ABOUT HIV—FOR ME, FOR YOU, FOR EVERYONE.
The Banyan Tree Project, Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center's national anti-stigma partnership, has wrapped production on its social marketing materials! Check out our new public service announcement and fact sheets. Our campaign slogan is "Saving face can't make you safe. Talk about HIV—for me, for you, for everyone."
"Saving face" is a common cultural concept in A&PI communities, where individuals seek to protect the family from perceived public shame or disgrace. In practice, "saving face" contributes to silence about sex, HIV, and safe sex practices. Saving face and stigma also lead to higher rates of HIV infection and a lack of knowledge about one's HIV status.
For 2011, we wanted to raise HIV/AIDS and STD awareness for young A&PI women. A&PI women are commonly believed to be "low risk" for HIV and other STDs, a misconception perpetuated by health providers and the community. Because of these misperceptions about risk, HIV and other STDs are becoming more common:
- 80% of A&PI women living with HIV got it from sex with a man (heterosexual contact)
- A&PI women are four times more likely to have an STD than an A&PI man
- A&PI women had the largest rate of increase in new HIV infections, higher than any other racial/ethnic group
These same provider misconceptions and cultural components also affect HIV testing rates and knowledge among all A&PIs:
- 1 in 3 Asians and Pacific Islanders living with HIV don’t know it
- Over half of Pacific Islanders have never been tested for HIV
- Over two-thirds of Asians have never been tested for HIV
- Get more information about HIV/AIDS and A&PIs
What can you do?
- LEARN—get the facts about HIV/AIDS in the A&PI community. Know your status! Get tested!
- SHARE—talk about HIV with your family and friends.
- GET INVOLVED—Stop HIV stigma in your community! Find out about a May 19th event in your area…or host one yourself!
How can you help spread the word?
It's easy! Get ready and set to help spread the word:
- Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and share our postings and tweets
- Embed our videos on your web page, blog, and share them by visiting our YouTube page
- Download and sign the Banyan Tree Pledge. Make extra copies for your friends to sign!
When you're ready and set, GO!
- Attend or promote a National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day event. Visit our Event Page for an event in your area.
- Share our updates from Facebook on your wall and with your friends.
- Retweet our Twitter feed. Use the hashtag #May19 for any National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day related tweets.
- Embed or share our PSAs leading up to May 19 on your emails, web site, blogs, Facebook page or Twitter feed.
THE BANYAN TREE PROJECT COMMEMORATES NATIONAL A&PI HIV/AIDS AWARENESS DAY
On Tuesday, May 17, 2011 A&PI Wellness Center and National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF) held a press conference spotlighting the alarming growth in new HIV infections among Asian and Pacific Islander (A&PI) women. The press conference commemorated the 7th annual National A&PI HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and featured a panel discussion with a personal story from women living with HIV and the presentation of new HIV and STD data trends affecting A&PI women.
While HIV is still seen as a men's issue, the disease continues to rise unchecked among A&PIs and A&PI women in particular. Recent analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that A&PIs have the highest rate of increase in new HIV infections in the nation, the only statistically significant growth among any racial or ethnic group, and yet two-thirds of A&PIs have never been tested for HIV. The rate of increase for A&PI women is actually higher than that of A&PI men, but the misconception that A&PIs are not at risk for HIV persists—even among healthcare providers who discourage A&PIs from getting tested. In fact, a recent study by panelist Dr. Hyeouk Chris Hahm indicates that A&PI women are less likely than other ethnic groups to be offered an HIV test in OB/GYN settings.
Panelists included Dr. Hyeouk Chris Hahm, a leading researcher on A&PI women's sexual health from Boston University; Sonia Rastogi from Women Organized to Respond to Life-Threatening Diseases in Oakland; and Jaimie Callahan, an HIV community advocate from Hawai'i, who is also living with HIV. The moderator was Priyanka Singha, the 2009-2010 Miss India USA and co-host of the popular Sony Entertainment Television talk show, Andaaz.
News and Events
For 2011, we developed a series of 3 posters to capture the diversity in our community. Download all 3 posters. Download the Pacific Islander poster. Download the East Asian poster. Download the South Asian poster.
