As I reflect on the XVII International AIDS Conference, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. The opportunity to be among passionate young activists, renowned researchers, and those living positively with HIV is extraordinary. The lessons I learned from the youth activists will not soon be forgotten. I learned that with a great deal of hard work and passion, much is accomplished. I learned that none of us should be afraid to speak out.

Now it is my turn to speak. As a young person concerned about the world, I need to share a message of hope. I believe the cure for HIV & AIDS is love. This love is expressed ultimately in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe that religious communities (especially Christians, myself included) have often distorted the message that God intended us to bring to all people.

I believe that truth will set us free. The truth that brings freedom: nothing can separate us from God's love. There is no condemnation for those who are with Jesus Christ. God doesn't care if you dress in drag or choose condoms as your form of HIV-protection. But God does care about you. He wants to know you and send his love to you. He wants to heal your heart and set you free from addiction, poverty, and suffering.

God wants to give all of us a life of meaning and purpose. This is the hope for the universe: God is with us. The cure to HIV & AIDS does not lie in drugs, economics, politics, or the wisdom of humanity. The cure is within us. The cure is love.

Love must lead us to action. Each of us is responsible to act on behalf of human beings affected by HIV & AIDS. We must respond with compassion and care for those infected. We must fight injustice, poverty and stigma. We are the youth, and we are the future. It's time for universal action now!

Georgina Caswell, Youth Journalist with the Mexico Youth Force, interviewed Morillio Williams, Director MDG No. 6 for UN MDG Youth Ambassador Corps, about the development of a youth hub in Suriname.

G: Hi Morillio
M: Hello!

G: What is a youth hub?
M: Well, a youth hub is actually like having a small international AIDS conference with young people away from the conference. We plan to share and discuss knowledge from the conference with young people in Suriname. We will use sessions through web casting and involve young people in discussions about the issues. We’re using the living room at the Family Planning Association of Suriname called St. Lobi. We’re turning their lobby into an interactive space.

G: Who are these young people?
M: They are all organised youth working in the area of HIV and AIDS. We really want discussions to be engaging and to contribute to their work in the area.

G: That sounds exciting - how are you promoting the youth hub?
M: We have promoted it through mass media. There was a big media launch last Monday and we’ve been using television and newspapers. It’s now a big thing in Suriname, everyone knows about it. I’ve been going to sessions to pick up information that is relevant to our national programme.

G: So you’ve been busy!
M: Yeah! I’ve been preparing presentations. I’ve been busy. The people back home have also been really busy – we’ve been emailing everyday to organise the hub. It’s a group of 10 people working on this project.

G: So this is an intervention as opposed to a one-off information event?
M: It is! We want it to be useful and I’m putting into action some of the skills and information from the sessions at the youth pre-conference.

G: Do you have a lot of support for the youth hub in Suriname?
M: We are happy to have the support of the National AIDS Programme of Suriname. A lot of big companies in Suriname support us. A big telecommunication company called Telesur are setting up a stage for us in downtown Suriname to profile the opening of the youth hub. The biggest bank in Suriname DSB are sponsoring logistical things such as pens and maps. The Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs are supportive with resources (refreshments, technical assistance). We also have support from individuals who are giving us things like a couch to use for a few days. There is also a lawyer’s office supporting us with some funding and technical assistance with financial coordination.

G: How can we learn about the outcome of your initiative?
M: There will be a report sent to all focal points at the National AIDS Programme in Suriname, UNAIDS, and the Global Youth Association. We would like to take it global! On Friday, we are doing some outreach downtown in Suriname – there’ll be drama, music, information – to raise the profile of HIV in Suriname. There’ll be incentives like t-shirts and folders.

G: Are you happy to share your email with other young people who may be interested in setting up a youth hub one day?
M: Yeah, we really want to make a difference and share our knowledge and experience with other young people so that at the next conference when young people don’t have the funds to go to the conference, they have a means of being internationally involved within their own countries. My email address is wmorillio@hotmail.com

G: Thanks for sharing!
M: You’re welcome!

A week after President George W. Bush signed legislation repealing the travel restrictions placed on HIV-positive individuals visiting or immigrating into the United States Congresswoman Barbara Lee, from California, shared the process that concluded in the repeal with an audience at the XVII International AIDS Conference. The consequences of travel restrictions like those practiced by the United States, and still practiced by many other countries all over the world, were made clear during the question period. One man came forward to express the sense of betrayal felt by those forced out by the restrictions, he had personal experience as a US citizen living in Canada with a partner who is HIV-positive. He still loved his country, he told the panel, but he was ashamed and angry with his government for initiating the repressive legislation that forced him to choose between his country and his partner, as well as for taking 20 years to address it. The XVI International AIDS Conference, held in Toronto in 2006, drew attention to the restrictions. Many HIV-positive individuals faced difficulties traveling to the conference, since many flights into Canada would take them through the US. Congresswoman Lee attended AIDS 2006 and realized that the only way to put the United States on the "correct side of history", on this particular issue, was to abolish the travel restrictions completely, in her words: "Human rights are not won by appeasement or incrementalism." Although repealing the travel restrictions had support from both Democrats and Republicans, as well as a consensus in the medical community that travel restrictions did nothing to protect public health, it was a time when there was hostility towards any immigrant-related reform amongst the general public. However two years later the repeal is a major step forward, although it is not the final step. It is now up to the Secretary of Health to change regulations to reflect the new legislation. HIV must be taken off of the list of diseases that mean inadmissibility to the United States, but Congresswoman Lee is confident that this will happen soon. So confident she has suggested her constituency, Berkeley, California, be considered for the next International AIDS Conference. Near the end of the session the conversation was brought back around to other human rights areas where the United States is lacking. One woman approached the microphone to congratulate Congresswoman Lee on her role in repealing the travel restrictions, but also to say that she would not personally attend an AIDS Conference in the United States until an apology was issued for all the human rights abuses it commits in other countries. Although using a session on travel restrictions against HIV-positive individuals as a platform for chiding the US on Iraq, or as she put it "marching into other countries" in the name of democracy, seems slightly inappropriate, it is a part of what the conference is about. Congratulating and celebrating to encourage progress, along with questioning and criticizing to show that we have not forgotten what remains to be addressed.

Georgina Yidanpoa Caswell
Youth Journalist - Mexico Youth Force

Ban Ki-Moon (UN Secretary General), Felipe Calderon (Mexican President) Bill Clinton (former US President), Margaret Chan (WHO), Dr. Pedro Cahn (IAS President), Peter Piot (UNAIDS), Stephen Lewis (AIDS-Free World, former UN Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa), Thoraya Obaid (UNFPA)…this conference has involved several world leaders. All spoke about the importance of addressing HIV issues; all mentioned that this is a collective effort.

A session entitled ‘Reclaiming our Lives: Developing accountability for positive (PLHIV) leadership and our advocacy priorities’ focussed on meaningful positive leadership to address HIV. Presenters demonstrated that positive leadership can happen at different levels and in different ways. Some people bring HIV positive together to influence policy in countries where no structures to do so existed. Others are using innovative research methods, such as picture maps, to encourage people living with HIV to express their needs and aspirations, which are in turn used as advocacy tools to lobby policymakers. Some people living with HIV are on the board of trustees of organisations and/or speak at conferences to ensure that the specific needs of HIV positive people are recognised and acted upon. What was clear from the discussion about positive leadership is that it is not easy to be a leader who represents other peoples’ voices in the community. A participant in the audience stated ‘Really, [networks representing us] listen to our voices. If you don’t have a story to tell, if you don’t hear us, you don’t represent us’. Representation involves accountability to the people you are representing and to the issues they are raising.

Giovanny Romero Infante from the Movimiento Homosexual de Lima, a Peruvian gay activist living with HIV’ provided me with a definition of ‘positive leadership’ from a young person’s perspective. He powerfully stated,

‘Positive leadership is the capacity that HIV positive youth have to talk about their own experiences, to represent the needs of other youth, including LGBT, and to take action using evidence of what is really happening’.

What a responsibility and a privilege!

In 2006 I attended the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada. I remember walking through the Global Village and seeing an exhibition of photographs and artwork created by a group of Thai children infected with HIV. I remember three photographs in particular that were seared into my memory, consciousness, and action.

The first photograph was of a wooden table. The caption read, "my father's table." The second picture was of a clock. The caption read, "my father's clock." The third picture was of a refrigerator. The caption read, "my father's refrigerator." At the bottom of these photographs I found a simple statement, "missing my dad."

I stood in front of these photographs stunned. It took no effort to understand the full meaning of these images and words.The essence of this child was captured in art like the aroma of a potion captured in a glass bottle. Seeing those images released the emotion and an ongoing narrative of an individual profoundly affected by HIV and AIDS.

In those precious moments, I understood more about HIV and AIDS than I did in four full days of plenary sessions, satellite meetings, skill building workshops, seminars, and symposiums. There is power in art and narrative. Participants in this International AIDS Conference may be overwhelmed with statistics, bar graphs, and powerpoint presentations that numb our minds with numbers and paralyze our brains with complexity. To resist compassion fatigue, I encourage you to take a moment to listen to the voices of individuals sharing their stories and their vast wisdom in art.

Amidst the human congestion of 25,000 participants within an atmosphere of raw energy, blasting music, and a thousand activities hoping to steal a second of your attention, I encourage you to

pause.

Interact with art and the people that created it. Hopefully, like me, you'll learn something new.