She's off and running again

Just when it seems all the school activities, community activism and hobbies have come to a halt so Jerri Clout can have a moment to enjoy the summer, she turns around and is packing her bags and heading off to join her peers in Mexico for the International AIDS Conference.

“I found out about a month ago, my mom received a call from the Ontario AIDS Network wanting to speak to me. I was at school at the time, so when I came home that night, my mom told me the big news,” Clout tells Baytoday.

“We are going with the Ontario AIDS Network on a scholarship.”

At the invitation of then Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman two years ago, Clout had quite an impact on organisers and participants alike when she welcomed women and youth from 130 countries to Toronto during a welcome reception in the Women’s Networking Zone at the 2006 International AIDS Conference. Based on the work she has continued to do following the conference Clout was a prime candidate to go back and gather more information to inspire people and push the issue further in the community.

“When we got home from the 2006 World AIDS Conference in Toronto, Youth 4 Youth was started. The AIDS Conference is a great opportunity to pick up new ideas, new initiatives for Youth 4 Youth to get involved in,” she explains.

“Right now Youth 4 Youth is in a transition stage, so this will be a great way to see what’s out there for youth and what we can do.”

“For North Bay, this is a great opportunity for programs like Partici-Patrick. It’s the 2006 AIDS Conference that spawned ideas like Partici-Patrick and Youth 4 Youth, so hopefully it means new ideas to spread the message about HIV and how you can prevent it,” she adds.

Clout also says that receiving the scholarship is demonstration that youth play a role in how policies are decided and implemented and that they deserve a seat at the table when it comes to changing AIDS in the world.

“For me, this means a lot. I am so grateful for this scholarship, because once again it’s adults putting faith in youth and that’s how we are going to make progress in not only stopping this disease, but building a strong generation to come to take on whatever the world brings.”

Clout says a number of things will be different about the Mexico conference versus the 2006 event including the fact the conference is not expected to be as large as Toronto, but it is still expected to host about 25, 000 people.

“Well, of course the setting is a huge contrast from the 2006 AIDS Conference. This conference will be in the middle of Mexico City. Delegates will see firsthand a lot more poverty then there is in Toronto,” she says.

“The theme of this conference is ‘Universal Action NOW’ where as Toronto’s was ‘TIME to DELIVER’. In the 2006 conference there was a lot of focus on Women and Youth involvement, this has carried over to the 2008 conference as well. There is a youth preconference as well as a specific series of workshops and sessions about youth and HIV.”

Not knowing what to expect from the 2006 conference Clout says things are different this time around and she is clear and focused on what she wants to take away with her from the Mexican conference.

“I hope to take away new ideas of how to take on this disease,” she states.

“There are so many different ways people are taking this on and it’s a great way to network and encourage each other to keep up the work we are doing. I hope to be able to meet some great contacts and learn about their projects.”

“We also hope to be able to share our success stories with other people who are fighting this disease. There is a lot going on to help, but not all of them are success stories. Partici-Patrick, Youth 4 Youth those are success stories that we can share with other people to inspire them. Both of these project fit in well with the theme of this conference. Youth are starting to hear what they can do to protect themselves.”

Clout leaves for Mexico July 31st.