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!

e?
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 th is 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!

ernment 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 wo man 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.

t 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!