US-Russia Volunteer Initiative (USRVI)

Stories from the Field

Daniel Winetsky and Danielle Reiff
Center of Social Development and Information, Samara

Daniel Winetsky (third from right) and Danielle
Reiff (fourth from left) with Russian
volunteers in Samara.

Daniel Winetsky and Danielle Reiff went to Samara with the first group of USRVI volunteers to combat HIV/AIDS among Russian youth. Winetsky and Reiff served at the Center of Social Development and Information in Samara, where they worked directly with young people, many of whom knew very little about HIV/AIDS or held faulty assumptions and stereotypes. By regularly holding discussions with local university students on how to prevent HIV/AIDS and lead healthy lives and by conducting outreach at local clubs and other spots frequented by young people, the American volunteers shared a vital message with at-risk youth. “My experience here,” Winetsky observed, “has greatly underscored for me the important role that social networks play in the progression of diseases such as HIV/AIDS.”

Following his time as a USRVI volunteer, Daniel Winestsky sought to educate more young people in Samara about the realities of HIV/AIDS. He applied for and received an Alumni Follow-On Grant from USRVI which allowed Winetsky and his peers from “C’est Moi” Theater to translate into Russian the Broadway musical Rent, which deals with issues of HIV/AIDS among young people. The show was initially performed by a group of 31 volunteers, ranging in age from 17 to 25 years old, in front of an audience of more than 150 people, and has proven to be a unique way to inform the youth of Samara about the dangers of this disease.

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