Yunnan Province in Southwestern China has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS infection in the country. Many schools in the province are now attempting to help those who have been born to infected parents, by providing all pupils with AIDS Prevention education from an early age. And it's crucial in the attempt to fight the disease and eliminate the discrimination that surrounds it.

80 kilometers from the China-Myanmar border, this village looks peaceful and secluded. Eight years ago, Chen, who chose to be only identified by his last name, was born here. He is an AIDS orphan. With no memories of what his parents look like, with no pictures left by his mom and dad, he said he often misses them.

"When people say the word- dad and mom," Chen said.

Mom, Dad names which lost all meaning for Chen when his mother died from AIDS when he was two. Just a couple of years later, his father died from the same disease. AIDS destroyed his family. His and his grandmother's life was subverted, and this little boy’s future would never be the same as his peers.

"I have taken him to see doctors every-year, and checked whether he’s infected by the HIV virus. The doctor gave him AIDS blocking drugs when he was born. So far no test results have showed he was infected. Some say when he turns 12, the signs of HIV will show, but I don’t know, I don’t know when," Chen's grandmother said.

His grandmother does whatever she can to protect her only grandson. Six years ago, when the boy’s mother died, she decided to keep the secret from Chen for as long as she could. Everytime he asked where his mother was, she'd say she was in Myanmar and didn’t want to come home.

But four years ago, when his father died at home, in front of the little boy, the secret got out. Everyone in the village talked about his parents' deaths, and everybody knew why they died.

"I don’t want him to know that his parents died from AIDS, I am afraid that he will be too sad,"  Chen's grandmother said.

Chen’s family is not the only case in his village and his school. The Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture was marked a high-risk district for HIV/AIDS in Yunnan Province. Around 90 percent of the cases were sexually transmitted,the remainder were drug users and mother to child transmission.

The school's principal said they began HIV/AIDS prevention and sex education classes a few years ago.

"Its purpose is to help them and their parents understand AIDS and how it transmits and how to remain uninfected. For students who are infected by HIV, we protect their rights and protect them from discrimination," Jing Shunde, foremer principal of Yingjiang County Elementary School, said.

With the initial idea promoted by the organization “AIDS Prevention Education Project for Chinese Youth”, the school received financial support, and teachers' training was provided by this organization. The knowledge is easy to understand from books and video, and helped them to understand the path of infecting HIV/AIDS. Most importantly, do not discriminate the people with HIV and their peers, many are AIDS Orphans.

"One time my friend who has HIV/AIDS injured, I first told her parents, and held her up, but I did not touch her blood, because that will transmit HIV virus to me.”

According to data from Unicef, in 2014, there are 13 million children world-wide who lost one or both of his parents from HIV/AIDS, 2.6 million children infected by HIV/AIDS under 15 years old. China released legislation that outlaws discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS in 2004, but for many AIDS Orphans like Chen, giving enough knowledge of HIV/AIDS Prevention to the people around him, will greatly help him and his family.

Life for aids orphans is full of uncertainties and challenges. Societies need to provide psychological support, child protection, and legal protection. But eliminating discrimination against AIDS orphans is far more important. And sometimes, what they need from us, might be just a simple smile.