Since the disaster in Haiti, jolting stories and photographs of the struggles local people are facing have been plastered all over the news and the internet. Anecdotes of displaced families, food insecurity, lack of shelter as well as tracking of the massive relief efforts taking place have defined the media's portrayal of disaster in Haiti. Of course, as a result, aid in the forms of food, water, shelter and immediate medical care have been rushed to the scene of the quake in an attempt to alleviate some of the incredible suffering.

While the provision of these resources is crucial to reducing the vulnerability of the Haitian people right now, there is another target for relief that must be equally prioritized, particularly within the context of Haiti's social and political climate: the protection of human rights, more specifically, prevention of violence against women  in this time of extreme vulnerability and chaos. It is a known fact that in situations of conflict and natural disaster rates of sexual violence escalate dramatically. As a consequence, women and young people need special attention in these relief efforts. A rapid assessment recently conducted by UNFPA in Haiti found a lack of privacy for women living in self-constructed camps throughout the streets and that the absence of female-specific latrines made women more vulnerable to rape and gender-based violence. In addition, UNOCHA studies conducted in 2008 Haiti following previous tropical storms found reports of sexual abuse in shelters, forced exchange of sex for food and many other forms of sexual exploitation.

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For the last three months, I have been living and working in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (in East Africa). I spend most of my free days hanging out with local friends I've made, guys and girls, all between the ages of 17 and 24. Some of them have completed their education through the equivalent of 10th grade, and some have no formal education at all. The topic of our conversations usually focuses on football, since basically everyone in Tanzania is obsessed with anything soccer- related, but as we have become more comfortable with each other our conversations have expanded beyond simply talking about Manchester United vs. Chelsea or how Didier Drogba is the most annoying soccer player on the planet (a point of contention among the soccer girls).

Eventually, our conversations faded from soccer to every day life issues: boyfriends/girlfriends, family issues, hopes and dreams and plans for the future. When it comes to HIV, young people in Tanzania are definitely conscious of it. While it is not a popular topic for everyday conversation, the reality that HIV exists in this community has become an accepted fact of life among the youth of Dar. Most of my friends have been through at least one (if not more) HIV education trainings, usually sponsored by organizations targeting soccer teams. When it comes to getting tested - I have friends who are sure to get tested every World AIDS Day (at least), and often go with their entire family.

With respect to couples, it is not abnormal for young loves to go to get tested for HIV together. Clearly, this does not apply to all young people in Tanzania, but among the friends I have made these seem to be normal activities.

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This past week I had the privilege of viewing the world premiere of a new film, Youth Producing Change, at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival in New York. As a visual compilation of life stories from young people all over the world, Youth Producing Change (YPD) captured the everyday struggles and triumphs young people deal with. Teen homelessness, HIV/AIDS, preserving an Islamic identity in a western culture, racial profiling, child labor and sexual assault were only a few of the topics these films exposed.

I first have to say that the stories in themselves were truly incredible. Each of the tales, some of which were done in documentary form while others were animations created by young people, told the story of a struggle, a triumph and a dream.

Struggles appeared in so many forms. Young people feeling forced to choose between homelessness and prostitution.  Adolescents being constantly subject to police brutality because of the color of their skin. A 13 year old working every day in a gravestone factory in Armenia to help support his family, instead of going to school.

Triumph was shown as homeless young people got themselves off the streets, into shelters, jobs and eventually their own homes. It was shown as a young man rising to the challenge of parenting his siblings after he lost his parents to AIDS. It was shown as a young woman choosing to be proud of her Islamic identity, even in the face of ridicule and hate she experienced every day in school.

The dream in each film was the same: a world free of discrimination and social inequity, defined by youth empowerment.

When I asked the young filmmakers, all of whom are under 19 years old, why they chose film as their medium and why they think it is important to use film as a tool for social change, their responses were passionate and inspired. They told me that film is an effective way to spread a message. Visualizing a person’s background helps you (the viewer) relate to their struggle. “Films show people the truth,” they said, “that is the best way to make a difference.”

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In case you haven't heard yet, Burger King recently released an ad in Singapore for their newest creation, the BK Super Seven Incher. I mean, all you have to do is look at this advertisement (which I have pasted for you below) to see why it's worthy of blogging about.

Everything about the imagery and the language in this ad makes me actually never want to eat this sandwich, or anything else from Burger King for that matter. Maybe its the fact that the model in the ad looks like a creepy blow up doll? Maybe its the fact that the slogan "It just tastes better" is printed in big letters above the image of the Super Seven Incher, a sandwich that promises to "BLOW YOUR MIND AWAY."

Today, young people in Jamaica are fighting hard to protect their sexual and reproductive health and rights. For years, the actions of this country have been defined by a tenuous fear that providing young people access to condoms would encourage promiscuity. Despite huge controversy and tension, the government of Jamaica is finally realizing that allowing this fear to dictate policies and programs for young people is incredibly destructive to their health and well being, and a violation of their human rights…although, not everybody is excited about this new development.

Over the last two weeks the public discourse around these issues has been pretty heated in Jamaica. For those of you who don’t quite what is going on, here is the low down (in a slightly condensed version).

As explained in the Gleaner article published on May 7, the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and National HIV/STI Programme and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, distributed an advertisement calling for plans to “develop a referral mechanism for sexually-active students to access sexual and reproductive health services outside of the formal school setting.” This plan would still prohibit contraceptive access and distribution in schools (another source of heated debate), it would just allow for a network of trained guidance counselors, teachers and peer educators to inform students about where they can get condoms on their own.

This is a huge step for Jamaica, and as such, Jamaican youth activists have praised the Ministry for finally paying attention to young people’s sexual and reproductive rights in an article they published in The Gleaner, one of Jamaica’s most prominent newspapers.
 
And so the heated debate began.

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Even though the World AIDS Day Blog-a-Thon is technically over, I just wanted to recap on some amazing (and somewhat surprising) World AIDS Week experiences I had...a.k.a. the testing van EXTRAVAGANZA. On December 3rd, my university administration joined forces with the LGBT resource center, our student group AIDS Coalition (for which I acted as the student liaison) and Health Education Services to facilitate a day of free, confidential and rapid HIV testing for students, staff and faculty. What started out as a student group's initiative quickly turned into a campus-wide initiative with administrative support and outreach to the student body and faculty. In an effort to reduce stigma and discrimination on campus, top administrators agreed to be tested and students like myself and others agreed to stand by the van answering questions and talking about HIV testing on campus.

The turnout was...amazing.

I still cannot believe how many people showed up. Over 70 students, faculty and staff members waited in the freezing cold to get tested. The organization that provided the van and testing kits did not anticipate such an amazing turnout - the demand was so great that we unfortunately were not able to test everyone who wanted to be tested.  While I hoped that we would have such a great turnout, I can't say I actually believed it would happen. For me, it was so refreshing to see that young people are conscious of the presence of HIV and the reality that this disease can affect ANYBODY. Often times I feel as if the students at my university believe they are invincible. I know so many people who support my efforts to fight the spread of AIDS, but don't actually feel that they are at risk for HIV in their university bubble. Having this huge amount of young people come out and take the initiative to get tested helped me to realize that the work so many of my peers and I do to raise awareness about HIV and reduce stigma and discrimination worldwide is WORKING. I can't think of a better way to culminate World AIDS Week. 

As a member of the International Youth Leadership Council, a group comprised of eight university students from schools in the Washington, D.C. area who work together to advocate for international family planning services and global HIV prevention and treatment, I really wanted to develop an initiative for World AIDS Day that could potentially reach every young person around the globe. Within the IYLC, we aim to educate the public and United States policy makers on the importance of providing funding for global HIV prevention and family planning through lobby visits, participation in conferences and meetings and campaign initiatives like this one.

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