Youth development programs are probably not the first things that come to mind when thinking about World AIDS Day, but young people around the globe are doing their part to raise awareness. Their efforts are particularly important in Russia, where the HIV prevalence rate is the second highest in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Students don’t learn about AIDS in school and in general it is an extremely taboo topic.
A few months ago I had the chance to go to Chelyabinsk, an industrial city in the Ural Mountains, to see a young group of actors perform a show for their peers that touched on issues such as unemployment, drug abuse and required military service. Although AIDS wasn’t a topic of that day’s show, the group has tackled that issue in the past. The actors don’t just perform for their fellow students, but also engage them in discussion about the issues presented and get young people to seriously think about them. I was completely mesmerized while watching the show and the following discussion, and was pleasantly surprised that young people were openly asking questions and analyzing tough situations.
My trip to Chelyabinsk didn’t end with the performance. The organization that works with the actors is part of the Youth Development Competencies Program (YDCP) [12], developed and implemented by IREX, and it also trains students to be peer educators to talk about HIV/AIDS. I was lucky to be able to sit in on one of these sessions. The teenagers dispelled common myths about HIV/AIDS and taught their peers to be proactive about protection. As someone who learned about HIV/AIDS in school at a fairly young age, I was shocked to see that these young people did not know how HIV is transmitted or about how important practicing safe sex is. It seemed like the messages were hitting home and the young people were honestly making a difference and reaching their peers.
The young people in Chelyabinsk show that youth can and are playing an active role in raising awareness about HIV/AIDS, both on and off stage.