The first full day of the Youth Pre-conference and I was already presenting. (The fact that this post is so late shows what the schedule has been like here!)

In front of me was a room full of young people who have started their own organizations, worked with their country’s governments, led peer education and edutainment campaigns in their own communities … with so much experience, what new information could I share about meaningful Youth-Adult Partnerships?

This was the question we faced when we sat down to plan the Youth-Adult Partnerships workshop for the Toronto YouthForce Pre-conference.

What we were working with: a two day training curriculum, aimed for small groups 20, for groups of youth and adults who have been or will be working together.
What we had: an hour and a half, no adults, and 125 youth leaders.

While I have facilitated this training a lot through Advocates for Youth, this was a whole new experience.

Through midnight brainstorm sessions, we shaped the workshop and made it relevant for the youth participants. Our goal was to give language to youth participants’ experiences with adults. We wanted to create a space to talk about effectively engaging adults at next week’s conference and about overall youth involvement within future AIDS Conferences. This workshop became a critical space where youth participants could question and discuss their role at the AIDS Conference and within the YouthForce.

My original concerns about the workshop were quickly dispelled as the workshop turned out to be a great success. Afterwards, everyone was excited and energized to approach, challenge, and work with adults during the Main Conference and beyond.