If I kept it to myself - World YWCA

Young women intervene in a world with AIDS
Nastassia Ladzik
My background on HIV prevention started with raising
my own awareness, which helped me to overcome
fears and stereotypes on HIV issues. I worked on
building my self confidence and my ability to determine
my own path in life.
My name is Nastassia Ladzik, I am a 24-year-old
Belarusian woman. I have a Bachelor degree
in pedagogic sciences and have specialised in
social work. I am the coordinator of the project
“Counteracting the Spread of HIV and AIDS
among young people in the Republic of Belarus”.
I have been a YWCA of Belarus volunteer
since 2002 and became a member in 2003.
Previously, I was the Assistant Project Manager
on Prevention and Education of the Programme
“La Strada - Belarus: Prevention of trafficking
of women in Central and Eastern Europe”, and
a consultant on the hotline “La Strada”. I am
experienced in providing women with social
consultation on the risks of being trafficked,
the rules of how to protect oneself abroad,
international marriages, jobs and studies abroad.
My first encounter with HIV and AIDS was at the
age of 18 when I had various fears connected
to it, such as being infected, taking a HIV test,
and so on. I think I was mainly afraid because
I was young and had very little knowledge. My
background on HIV prevention started with
raising my own awareness. This helped me
overcome my fears and stereotypes on HIV
issues. I worked on building my self confidence
and my ability to determine my own path in life.
I found information on the Internet, in books and
at a centre led by university staff and students,
which provided useful information on HIV and
AIDS for young leaders.
During 1996 - 1997, the HIV infection rate was
increasing. At that time it was considered to be
a disease of potential risk groups (gay men, sex
workers and drug users). The age group that
had the highest infection rate was those 15-29
years old. Questions concerning HIV in Belarus
were relatively new and there were no education
programmes on prevention in secondary and
high schools. Furthermore, obligatory courses
for senior pupils on healthy lifestyles and
reproductive health were scarce. Most people
in this age group, therefore, did not have
necessary knowledge about the causes, ways
of transmission and consequences of HIV and
AIDS, and did not practice responsible sexual
behaviour.
In 2001-2002 I participated in a peer education
training programme organised by UNAIDS, and
led by specialists in the country and international
experts from the Belarusian Republic Epidemic
Centre. In 2003, I began developing a project to
counteract the spread of HIV and AIDS among
young people, and started implementing it in
September 2004. This project, which was an
individual initiative, is the result of complex
sociological research, combined with information
and educational work. The research is aimed at
studying the level of knowledge of the Belarusian
youth on the causes, ways of transmission and
impact of HIV and AIDS on their lives. It is also
to know the infection rate through drug addiction
and sexually transmitted infections, and the
current epidemical situation and HIV prevention
measures taken in Belarus. We looked at the
problems and personal experiences of people
living with HIV and also the problem of coverage
and HIV and AIDS presentation methods in the
Belarusian mass media. Four trainers and a
sociologist are part of this project. In October
2005 new ideas arose, such as translating
the World YWCA production ‘Women Are’ into
Russian and distributing copies to other NGOs.
We believe it will be useful to promote networking
with other NGOs.
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