Lights, Camera, Action & Awareness!

The BC Centre for Disease Control’s Chee Mamuk has teamed up with Good Company Communications to help First Nations youth, ranging from grades 8 through 12, create their own sexual health campaigns. Star In Your Own Stories is a workshop project transforming high school students into filmmakers and advocates for HIV/AIDS and sexual health awareness. It gives the students a fun way to explore a serious issue, while gaining skills and knowledge at a time when Aboriginal people in B.C. and across Canada are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS.

The first workshops were in January 2007 with Haisla youth in Kitamaat whose award-winning film Stand True addressed the negative impact created by rumours and innuendo. The youth involved continue to educate their peers, and many say their participation in Star In Your Own Stories has transformed their lives.

The second production was Step Up, a film by First Nations youth in the Chemainus area about getting tested for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). The workshop participants were given the training to see how the issue was relevant to their own lives, along with the underlying risks. They then came up with a storyline that resonates within their community and offers solutions to their peers.

In October 2008, another workshop was held in Chilliwack with youth from Sto:lo Nation. Their video, Strong Path, launched in December.

Other project partners include the H'ulh-etun Health Society, AIDS Vancouver Island and the BCCDC Outreach Nursing Program.