The CarHIV Youth Society (CYS)

The CarHIV Youth Society (CYS), defined by its slogan "Of the Community, With the Community," is a coalition of at-risk transdiasporic youth volunteers, who catalyze communal advancement in HIV prevention and bring civic responsiveness into meaningful action. Participants evolve from the peer-to-peer group dynamic to engage proactively in new zones of relational community that innovatively draw attention toward "social transformation" and "collective empowerment." These new zones transform youth into popular educators seeking a transformative or dialogical educational process in which they explore their own lives and realities. This approach reformulates HIV prevention and awareness at the level of individual behaviors, but also brings attention to a kind of public intimacy where knowledge acquires a new connotation and sense of familiarity within the Caribbean's flow of collective life. 

The CarHIV Youth Society (CYS) equips youth, in the long term, with the experience (i.e. workshops, presentations, performance, community outreach) needed to deliver significant input, to establish a positive influence during any decision-making process and to make effective change at the systemic level concerning HIV prevention.

Here, our objective goes beyond the passive-prohibiting standard model of prevention and moves toward youth leadership, youth development, and a culture of genuine opportunity and promise. This way, the youth is considered an asset, and prevention is not seen as reactive and negative -a "going against."