Like any journalist would do, I went to the Information Session to observe and drink in the information about the XVI International AIDS Conference. “A routine report”, I remember thinking. Well it was not. I left the information session entirely uplifted and inspired. I believe that this was due to a large extent to an amazing young person I met – Henry Luyombya. (At this point I would like to ask all readers to excuse any faulty grammar. I am too excited!!!) I was in absolute awe while I was interviewing him. Yes I managed to grab him during the break for an interview. Henry is from Uganda and he is HIV positive, He has lost a father, brother and aunt to the virus. He has since been advocating for the youth in his community to have better access to treatment and prevention resources. He has been through hell but keeps fighting. Tears come to my eyes as I write this. His courage and strength has truly touched me. I do not believe that I have ever grown to respect someone so much in such a short period of time.

Sorry for all the emotion guys. I bet if you meet him you will feel the same way. Luckily you may. He is one of our youth spokespersons for the conference. Therefore once he is officially identified, you can find him and make the most of your time with him. You will get inspired, want to be informed and get involved.


By the way the Information Session was great. Thanks to Paul Adomako, Alex McClelland and the rest of the team at the local host it was everything you need to know about the conference.