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Christabell Opudo (copudo)
Female, 28 from Nairobi, Kenya
Joined TIG: Nov 29, 2006
My name is Christabell. I was born in Nairobi, Kenya. Up until three years ago, I had never really been involved in any youth programs, and my main focus in life was doing business and making money. However, while in the process of completing paperwork to work in the UAE, I decided to get tested for HIV. It turned out like I never expected: I was HIV+. I locked myself in my house for a month afterwards.
At my first hospital appointment, I was absolutely shocked to see so many young people, all affected by HIV/AIDS. This made me realize the general lack of awareness and information available around the issue of HIV/AIDS among young people in my country. I decided then and there to get involved with youth activities.
I was referred to a youth support group for young people living with HIV/AIDS. Originally, this group was an informal gathering where several young people chatted about their situation. With my background in business, I was able to help develop this group into the Stay Alive Youth Support Group (SAYS-G). The group provides a space for youth affected by HIV/AIDS to come together to share their experiences and, through information sharing and capacity building, empowers youth in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
I came across TakingITGlobal in 2006 through the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA). At first, I was a rather dormant member as I wasn’t quite sure of what to do on the site. Then, I met Erick Ochieng Otieno, one of the most active members on TakingITGlobal, and he showed me how I could dissect TakingITGlobal to explore opportunities of which I had not been aware. He was a great mentor, and he made me realize the potential capacity of TakingITGlobal to help me achieve my goals. Now, I always have something to do on TakingITGlobal when I sign in.
In the beginning, I worked primarily on building my capacity through TakingITGlobal and GYCA: I applied to e-courses and eventually completed all three online courses on political advocacy, project management, and grant writing. The e-courses gave me a deeper understanding of youth issues and how to get involved. Today, with the post-election violence in Kenya, I am using the information and skills that I gained from the e-courses to coordinate a project (a UN-HABITAT and Red Cross initiative) to mobilize youth leaders around peace building initiatives and training.
I also started to connect with other young people from around the world through TakingITGlobal. From there on, I concentrated more on exchanging information and turning the knowledge that I gained through TakingITGlobal into practical solutions. I was really thrilled in particular with the “Take Action” and “Browse Resources” sections of TakingITGlobal, where once can access and upload events, projects, workshop kits, and toolkits; I have uploaded several projects and events myself. These tools are really exciting for me, as I am able to highlight activities of what I am doing in my community and my country and learn about what others are doing in theirs.
I get really inspired and motivated when I see that my projects and initiatives are recognized; other members on TakingITGlobal actually appreciate everything that their fellow members are doing, and I have gotten great feedback on my initiatives. Very recently, in December 2007, I decided to get more involved with TakingITGlobal through volunteering as an editor for Panorama and have found the experience interesting so far.
Through TakingITGlobal, I learned that youth can achieve incredible things when they are informed and inspired to reach levels that they had not previously reached. There is one thing that I always tell my colleagues: “If one is not on TakingITGlobal, one can never know what is going on.”
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Christabell
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