About the workshop. I went to New Delhi, India for a HIV/AIDS regional training workshop for the Commonwealth Youth Ambassadors for Positive Living (CYAPL) -- I know, what a mouthful. Was feeling rather excited about going since it would be my first exchange yet at the same time, I was hesistant for 2 reasons. First, I did not know my Singapore counterpart at all before the trip. Second, it didn't help that I was going to spend Valentines Day in a foreign country.
However, it turned out that I was thinking too much. Ultimately,I had a great time over there, where I learnt a lot and made new friends.
Alright, back to the workshop proper. It was a fruitful experience and I'm very impressed with the works that many of them had done. We had people coming from WHO, UNAIDS, UNDP etc coming to talk to us about the technical aspects of HIV/AIDS, the implications of not controlling the epidemic, stigma & discrimination and ways to advocate to policy makers. Also, we had sharing sessions by the other Commonwealth countries (Brunei, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Malaysia) and many discussions, in which I could really see the passion in many of them when they try to fight for the cause.
On top of all these, we had the opportunity to go on field trips. Visited a NGO where they are trying to contain the spread of HIV/AIDS through Intravenous Drug Users (IDUs). And I actually saw, for the first time, addicts injecting drugs into themselves on the streets. Also visited a pediatric hospital where they care for HIV positive kids. It was heart wrenching and I understood the dilemma mothers faced when deciding whether to breastfeed their child.
Through the workshop, I made several new friends from a strategic regional alliance between Singapore, Brunei and Maldives. Without them, my time in India would not have been as amazing. Since a picture speaks a thousand words, scroll down to catch a glimpse of my life in the land of butter chicken and butter naans.
