(Un)naturally, I decided to run the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon for The Grassroot Project (an MTV Staying Alive grantee) on May 19. You read that right: from the couch to a half marathon in 9 weeks, but with HIV. There’s a hospital on the half-marathon course and a team of athletes at my disposal, so I’m content with my contingency plan.

I can now see how living with HIV has prepared me to be a runner:

• You need a training schedule, and you need to stick to it: Because I was antiretroviral-free for a while, I used single-dose multivitamins and oral contraceptives to prepare myself for habitually taking pills for several months, so that when I started HIV treatment again I would be more adherent. 2 years later, I still take my HIV drugs—1 pill twice a day at 7 am and 7 pm. I still stick to the same routine now that I’m running, except I’ve already had a 60 min workout before my 7 am dose.
• If it’s in the chest you must rest: I was never diligent with taking a rest prescription. I’m known to wear face masks, following a cold, into my office that sport inscriptions of “FACE CONDOM” and “REINFECTION PROTECTION.” Actually, I recently recovered from a second episode of bronchitis; the onset of which occurred near the end of training week 3. However, this time rest was even more important because the exertion from running could cause pneumonia (+1 for running).
• Eat more and eat well: When I was diagnosed with HIV as a child, I met with many nutritionists to evaluate my dietary intake—it’s very important that people with HIV get proper nutrition—so that aspect of training doesn‘t change much, except now that I’m running, I eat constantly. Hungry hungry T-cells. I’ve had issues gaining weight because of my small build and use of antiretroviral drugs (another +1 for running).
• The unexpected happens: The recent unfortunate events at the Boston marathon don’t change my decision to run. Living with HIV has taught me how to keep moving forward with the unexpected. As one of the first-generation infants to have lived with HIV for almost three decades, I’m writing the book on the unexpected in a positive light. Moving forward is the single most powerful way to defeat fear and stigma.

Stay tuned to see how Team Grassroots conquers the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon the same way I conquer my HIV: with planning, endurance, flexibility, and a healthy appetite for life.

Despite multiculturalism and diversity growing in many parts of the world, many people still face discrimination because of their sexuality.  

Today is International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia, which aims to raise awareness of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) rights globally. 

At MTV Staying Alive we work with amazing young people around the world who fight for the rights of gay people in their communities every day.

George Freeman, an MTV Staying Alive grantee and Director of Pride Quality in Sierra Leone, faces prejudice and violence because he is gay. “I live in constant fear of the police and officials who have arrested and detained me several times. My family has disowned me and kicked me out of the house, as is very common for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender, Queer, and Intersex  [LGBTQI] people when their identity becomes known”.  

The brutal reality of homophobia reared its ugly head a few weeks ago when two female employees of Pride Equality were threatened with violence, evicted from their home, and chased out of their town, for merely discussing the rights of LGBT people on local radio. “We started receiving death threats on our cell phones and also had verbal confrontation from unknown men threatening to kill us”, explained one of the victims.

LGBT communities often face huge barriers to their human rights in countries where homosexuality is a crime, punishable with prison sentences and in extreme cases, death. The LGBT community has often been accused of promiscuity, infidelity, and spreading sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV. Yet the reality is that anyone, of any sexual orientation, can have multiple sexual partners and practice unsafe sex.

However, progress towards improved LGBT rights is being made. Third gender cards have been issued in Pakistan and Nepal that protect transgendered individuals from discrimination. Adoption by same-sex couples is now legal in Brazil and Spain, with same-sex marriage now being legal in 14 countries worldwide.

“Despite all the inhuman and degrading treatment I’ve faced, I am more determined than ever to never let this background affect my future”, George explains. “My vision is to help other LGBTQI people like myself to become better individuals in society and also to create access to HIV treatment, care, and support”.

LGBT communities across the globe need continued support from the media and YOU, to get their voice heard.

What do you think should be done to improve LGBT rights?

Clitoris Awareness Week, sponsored by Clitoraid aims to raise awareness of FGM, highlighting the dangers that accompany the procedure, sexual inequality, and infringements upon the rights of women and children globally.

According to the World Health Organisation FGM “comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons” all of which cause long-term damage and interfere with the natural functions of a woman’s body.

Along with the negative psychological consequences of FGM, it can also result in an increased risk of HIV due to various biological, anatomical, and social factors.

The reasons for FGM vary across the globe, but all include a mixture of social, cultural, and religious factors. Practitioners of the procedure consider it to be a vital part of raising a woman, as it is said to reduce libido and ensure and maintain pre-martial virginity.

Over 140 million women worldwide are subjected to this practice. FGM is now a criminal offence in many countries, but is still widely practiced in parts of Africa and Asia. In 1982, Sweden became the first country to pass anti-FGM legislation. A similar law was then enacted in Britain in 1985 and in the USA in 1997.

Whether you’re a mother, aunt, sister, or niece, no woman should be made to go through this kind of mutilation. By educating and empowering young women about their rights we can all play a part in ending FGM.

Happy Clitoris Week!

I remember back in 2007 when I met Dennis for the first time with Georgia, (the Staying Alive Foundation’s Executive Director). We were at REPACTED’s tiny office at the Nakuru Players Theatre, in Kenya. The Staying Alive Foundation had given REPACTED their first grant a month earlier and we were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the group.  They didn’t have much experience but what they lacked in that, they more than made up for in energy and passion! REPACTED was in fact the first ever SAF grantee that received a visit from SAF staff and that day we believed more than ever that we were right in supporting youth led groups such as REPACTED. It is what the fight against HIV needed (and still needs!) more than ever: passionate young people such as Dennis who believe that working within the heart of the community can make a true difference in stopping the spread of HIV amongst their peers.

REPACTED were awarded a 3 year grant in June 2008 and they expanded their activities to work in prisons. This wasn’t easy to start with but Dennis, together with his co-founder Collins, managed to convince the prison governors to allow theatre performances in the prisons. This resulted in many prisoners not only learning about HIV but also taking the vital step to get tested. Georgia and I visited REPACTED again in April 2011, just before their SAF grant ended. As their Grant Manager, I had always closely followed their progress but to see their development with my own eyes was mind blowing. Their performance in the Nakuru female prison was amazing. I’m so proud that the programme continues today, not with funding from SAF but directly supported by the prison services!  REPACTED served as a star model for other SAF grantees – funded for four years, taking part in the training, and finding sustainable funding to continue their work after their grant with SAF came to an end.

Dennis left REPACTED as a staff member in 2009 as he firmly believed the organisation should stay youth-led. But he stayed on as a Board Member to continue to give support and guide the organisations.  As he was establishing himself as a consultant to other NGOs, we invited Dennis to a grantee training workshop in Tanzania in February 2010 to help train other grantees in the monitoring and evaluation of their activities. All the grantees there loved Dennis because he understood exactly the kind of situations and challenges they were facing with their own organisations. Again, Dennis inspired us to do something new with our SAF programme: we asked him, a former grantee, to be a mentor to new grantees.  And Dennis being Dennis, he immediately agreed and gave up a lot of time and energy in mentoring two organisations in particular: Afyaafrika and HAPEP both based in Narok. Both organisations’ leaders have told me repeatedly how valuable Dennis’s mentorship has been and that they will miss Dennis a great deal. Today, based on Dennis’s leadership, we have many former grantees who mentor new grantees.

Thanks to Dennis’ tireless energy to continue to stay engaged with the Staying Alive Foundation programme, I had the chance to be in regular contact with him and get to know him a bit better. He was a true example to his fellow Kenyans and youth and I know that Dennis’ legacy will continue through REPACTED and the many organisations that have had the chance to work with him over the years.  My thoughts and those of all SAF staff will be with Dennis and his family this week, when he will be laid to rest. Rest in peace Dennis, we will miss you.

We want to speak to 16–24 year olds who’d like to record their own experiences of relationships and attitudes toward sex.

This will be for an exciting new special being produced as part of a collaboration between the MTV Staying Alive Foundation and Durex, which creates and supports programs that empower young people to adopt positive sexual attitudes and behavior.

Using your own camera or phone, this really will be your unfiltered story, from your perspective and in your own words.

Is sex important to you? Do you think about it a lot? Do you talk to your friends, partners and family about it? What is your attitude towards safe sex?

Do you feel you know enough about sex, or do you still have lots of worries?

Do you feel society doesn’t talk openly enough about sex?

Are you satisfied with your sex life? Is it more about the physical pleasure or the emotional connection for you? Or something else…?

This innovative and powerful new documentary will offer a voice to people across the world to talk openly about the anxieties, emotions and curiosities that young people have regarding sex.

Straight or gay, virgin or not, single or in a relationship, confident with your sex life or full of worries…whatever your story, we would love to hear from you.

For more information, please do get in touch on 0207 349 4518 or email us at mtvproject@firecrackerfilms.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/worldsexproject

Twitter: @worldsexproject

SWAPO is providing access to HIV prevention and health care services for young people in the Pader district of Uganda by offering monthly counselling and testing outreaches throughout the community. They tested 161 young people in February and March, 2013, while visiting homes to counsel young people with HIV. SWAPO also provide vital HIV/AIDS and health information to young pregnant women to improve the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of the disease.

Another key area of SWAPO’s work is in changing negative attitudes towards people living with HIV. One way they do this is by holding monthly HIV-sensitisation meetings in the community, using drama and video shows to challenge the stigma often attached to people with HIV. They also host a show on a local radio station, inviting one young person with HIV a week to talk about their experiences.

Jane’s story (name changed to protect the individual’s identity) highlights the success of this radio show. Jane lives in the Pader district of Uganda. Her daughter died of AIDS in 2009, leaving her to care for her young grandson who has HIV. Fearing that the boy had no future, Jane thought about abandoning him. However, having heard the encouraging testimonies of children living with HIV on SWAPO’s radio show, she came to realise that the hopeless future her grandson faced could be avoided. After seeking advice from SWAPO, her grandson is now going to school and getting the medical attention he needs.

This story is just one of many that show the importance of community schemes like SWAPO. The battle against HIV has to be fought in many different ways and educating people is just as vital as treating them. By doing so, SWAPO and others like them can ensure a better future for the young people of Uganda.

To support SWAPO and other MTV Staying Alive Grantees click here to make a small donation.

For some though, this is a reality. Sarah and Bee (names have been changed to protect their identities) live in Sierra Leone, a country where homosexuality is illegal and homophobia is rife. Campaigning for a better future for their LGBT brothers and sisters, they recently went on a radio show in their hometown to talk about human rights and the work of MTV Staying Alive grantee Pride Equality, an organisation dedicated to raising awareness of HIV among the LGBT youth and bringing LGBT rights to Sierra Leone.

Things turned nasty quickly after the show aired. Homophobic and threatening phone calls and text messages flooded into the radio station, threatening the two women with violence merely for saying that LGBT people deserved the same rights afforded to everyone else. People even turned up at the radio station to confront them, but luckily the station’s manager was able to smuggle them out of a back door.

But that wasn’t the end of their ordeal. They arrived home to be told by their landlord that he’d listened to their radio show and that he was very annoyed. Sarah and Bee were subsequently evicted from their home. With nowhere else to go, they were forced out on to the streets.

Things continued to get worse. Their names were written in chalk around the town, with the perpetrators saying that they should be killed for wanting to “bring demonic and abominable acts into the community”. Sarah and Bee were eventually confronted by the cruel reality of living on the street. They were attacked, their assailants making off with everything they owned including camcorders, computers, and mobile phones. Everything.

Thankfully, they were able to turn Pride Equality who, together with financial support from the MTV Staying Alive Foundation, was able to relocate Sarah and Bee to a safer region of the country, where they can start a new life away from those who mean them harm.

This is why the work of organisations such as Pride Equality is so important. Not only do they help people like Sarah and Bee escape such prejudice, but they are also trying to make sure that one day such discrimination doesn’t even exist. Equality means a better future for everyone.

Sponsored by Positive Action, ten people from organisations in India, Laos, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the UK are learning about media and marketing, finance, and other important modules. It’s all being led by young experts in these fields from Restless Development.
Tatum Xaypanya is a grantee from Lao Youth AIDS Prevention Project (LYAP). He works with men who have sex with men in a bid to reduce HIV prevalence in his local community, and says ‘The workshop has given me the tools to make LYAP better. I’m looking forward to teaching other members when I go home.’

It’s an intensive few days, but the beautiful scenery is the best backdrop to all this new knowledge!

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Joel and Becky from UK based grantee Chasing Zero working hard

“Always carry a condom” Marvin
“Always be the first person to stand up and talk about condoms” Oritse

What’s your one piece of advice when it comes to safe sex?

In Uganda only 39 percent of young people aged between 15 to 24 know all the facts about how to prevent HIV infection.

Reach a Hand Uganda (RAHU) is fighting to improve that figure with their SAF funded project that uses mass media communication to spread HIV prevention messaging.

First funded in December 2012, RAHU’s The Youth Health Empowerment Project aims to increase access to information and health services through engaging young people using social media, role models/cultural icons, m and peer education in schools across Kampala and Wakiso.

Listen to RAHU in action: