A group of Sakewew High School students were among those attending a recent youth forum in Ottawa on sexually-transmitted and blood-borne infections.
The conference, hosted by Jer’s Vision, was the third annual Canadian Youth Forum and Conversation on STBBIs, held at the Terry Fox Canadian Youth Centre Dec. 2 to 6.
Among those attending were students from the Sakewew Gay-Straight Alliance.
Those included Shay Chief, Grade 10, Naya Chief, Grade 11, and Cheyanna Night, Grade 12. Teacher Jenn Nicotine accompanied them as well.
The idea of attending the conference came up at a Gay-Straight Alliance meeting and was suggested by their teacher Reid Stewart.
STBBIs involve a wide range of sexually-transmitted diseases ranging from herpes, gonorrhea and syphilis to hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.
The conference was funded by the federal government, but their trip itself was funded by money raised by the GSA.
The group expected the conference would focus on blood-borne diseases, but it turned out to be far more than that.
“I went there expecting to just learn about STIs and HIV and stuff like that, but I ended up learning a lot more than I intended to,” said Naya. “I think it was, I guess, a life-changing experience because it was my first time in Ottawa and my first plane ride and everything, and it was kind of a special event for me to go to.”
For Nicotine, what stood out was a focus on how STBBIs had impacted the aboriginal community.
“First Nation people are one of the high groups of people to obtain HIV and Hepatitis C,” said Nicotine. “So they explained some of the reasons why.”
She noted one of the speakers talked about pre-contact, after-contact with Europeans and the way of life before, and about the abuses at the residential schools with the results being more alcohol and drug abuse.
“It was a very emotional conference,” said Nicotine.
“The students were able to relate to a lot of the speakers, not necessarily in having those types of diseases, but being able to relate to suicides. That was one of the things that was really heavy.”
One speaker who made a particular impact was someone who had contracted Hepatitis C and told how one of his friends had hung himself. Some students ended up running out of the room on hearing that story “because they were able to identify with knowing someone who had committed suicide,” said Nicotine.
The students from Sakewew were involved in conference activities almost as soon as they got off the plane. They arrived at 11 a.m. Ottawa time Dec. 2 and their very first sessions were that same day .
From then on it was a heavy schedule of workshops and speakers on the wide range of topics impacting STBBIs.
Those included team-building exercises, a variety show Wednesday night and a number of keynote addresses.
For the students, a number of things stood out.
“The highlights were all this information that I had no idea about,” said Naya, who said she is now able to “bring that education back and educate my fellow peers, because it’s a great way to prevent a lot of diseases.”
Also standing out for the group was a smudging ceremony, which Naya appreciated “because we were the only First Nations people there. It made us feel kind of at home.”
“I went to this one workshop, Sexual Rights and Responsibilities,” said Shay. “That was my favorite one. We learned what do we as a society owe sexually, and what do they owe us.”
“I knew stuff about STIs and stuff, but I learned more information on them,” said Cheyanna Night.
“I learned things that I didn’t know before about them,” she added, pointing to information on HIV and other infections.
But also standing out for them was the trip to Ottawa were the sights and sounds. Shay had been to Ottawa before, but for Naya and Cheyanna it was their first time there.
They made sure to visit Parliament Hill, which was included as part of the conference agenda. They went to the Library and Archives Building for a panel discussion there and toured the Hill afterwards. Apart from that, they found time to do some shopping at the malls.
Not lost on them was the security in Ottawa in the wake of the shooting incidents of Oct. 22 on Parliament Hill. Tight security was everywhere, and the mood was somber from all of them, they noticed.
“Every doorway,” said Nicotine, “there was a guard, and they didn’t look happy.”
Each of the students now plans to make presentations to their own communities about what they took away from the conference.
“Each one of them has to come back to their communities to present a workshop or some sort of information that they gained,” said Nicotine. They each must present to their peers and to the community what they know about these diseases.
“That way, now they are being the leaders, to be the voice, to teach everybody else.”
