It's time for action NOW!

Jerri and Maureen Clout send a photo from the International AIDS Conference. Blog by Jerri Clout/ Special to Baytoday.ca

Sunday

The first day of actual sessions started today and seeing how it is Sunday it was only fitting that we start with a session on Religion and HIV. It was very interesting learning about what other people are doing with their churches to try and be on the same page with HIV education and prevention. The discussion challenged many beliefs currently held by some religions. If for instance you are called to help people why is it that people with HIV and AIDS do not feel welcomed by their churches. It is changing but as with everything we still have a long way to go to get rid of the stigma.

Afterwards, we attended a session called "The Beautiful Game" using the power and popularity of soccer to engage young people in HIV education and life skills. Their program is in over 17 African countries and has reached over 640,000 youth. It sounds like an incredible program. I shared the story of how the 2006 AIDS conference inspired my mom to write Partici-Patrick. They were very interested in the program and we exchanged business cards with a promise of exchanging curriculum.

We had about an hour to kill before our bus came, so we walked around the global village, which was my favourite part of the conference in Toronto. We spent a bit of time in the women’s networking zone where there were women singing a song about how women have been waiting on men for too long and it is time for us to be self sufficient. We also saw a booth of world famous hair dressers who will style you hair and teach you about HIV at the same time. The global village certainly is an interesting spot and it is a great place to network. We have created our own global village here as well. We are connecting with a large group of people every day and getting to and from the conference together. The conversations on the bus are so informative, and we all come up with ideas for each other’s programs and ways we may be able to work together. We are off now to the opening ceremonies, it does not start for another 2 hours, but it is first come first seated and there isn't enough room for everyone...so we are not taking any chances.

11:30 pm

What a night. We rushed off to catch our bus, just to find out that it had broken down. So we went to catch a bus on the side of the road. When the bus pulled up, a Spanish speaking person asked the bus driver if he would take us to the ceremonies. He agreed with enthusiasm and then asked all the locals to get off and get on another bus. We protested but they all insisted. The bus was so full and people were standing and holding on and speaking in all different languages with the driver speeding though the streets! We got to the venue and there was a huge buzz. Security was extremely tight. The ceremony started with lively Latin dancer with a mariachi band. The music and dancing was beautiful. Then went on to many speakers about a summary of the AIDS epidemic so far. It was great to see the support of the Mexican president, who showed up with his wife and spoke. In between speakers there were short commercials about AIDS, stigma and condom use. They were very powerful. It is amazing how something that is 30 seconds long can have such an impact on you. Some key points that were mentioned were: access to treatment worldwide for equal chances to succeed in life, a surprising stat - for every two people who gain access to antiretroviral, another 5 people are infected. And of course - it’s time for UNIVERSAL ACTION NOW!

After we left the ceremonies we went out for dinner with a small group we have been getting to know, it was a great time and we talked a lot about the work we are all doing and bounced ideas back and forth. We are now off to bed, another busy day at the conference tomorrow. We hope to attend sessions as well as spend some time in the poster exhibits and the global village.

Jerri will be sending BayToday a daily blog update, however, if you would like more information, please check out her websites : www.patrick4life.org or www.youth4youth.net. Also, feel free to email Jerri at [email protected]