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What are Smart Cookies?
Smart Cookies are east and southeast Asian youth Peer Educators
at ACAS.
Smart Cookies prevent the spread of HIV among east & southeast
Asian youth who are at risk for HIV infection.
Let's not kid ourselves! Being young is a time to experiment
with sex, alcohol, and drugs is common.
Youth & HIV in Canada
According to the recent Canadian Youth, Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS
Study (CYSHHAS), half of Grade 9 students and one third of Grade
11 students think that there is a cure for HIV/AIDS. Meanwhile,
the study reported that 23% of males and 19% of females in grade
9 reported having sexual intercourse at least once. By grade 11,
40% of males and 46% of females have had intercourse. Less than
two percent of the students surveyed said they abstained from
sex because they feared HIV or AIDS.
As Asian youth, we often struggle with many issues on top of
sex and sexuality: conflicts with our families, racism, sexism,
peer acceptance, isolation, self-esteem issues, and lack of information
and support.
HIV/AIDS and STI prevention education and outreach for Asian
youth can be challenging—Asian youth are a very diverse
group! Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Korean, Japanese,
Laotian, Thai, Cambodian, Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean…we
come from all over the place! From those of use who were
born or raised in Canada, to newcomers who are VISA students,
new immigrants, refugees, or without status…there are many
different types of Asian youth!
How to Become a Smart Cookie
Who:
East & Southeast Asian volunteers, 25 years old and younger,
with open minds.
We especially need volunteers who are bilingual (English and
east/southeast Asian language)
How:
1. Call the Youth Education and Outreach Coordinator to schedule
a MatchUp (see below). Periodically, we will also have Volunteer
Information Sessions for new volunteers.
2. Then you will go through a series of ThinkTank Sessions, our
version of a Volunteer Training—where you will share, learn,
challenge, and laugh with each other.
MatchUps
MatchUps are like interviews, except they’re not as formal
or scary as an “interview”! It’s a chance
for us to get to know you, and you will get a chance to ask questions
you have about us. We will tell you more about how our program
works.
If what you want matches with what we want, then we're on to
the next step!
ThinkTanks
Our version of a Volunteer Training, the purpose of ThinkTanks
is to draw out issues important to us, to become aware of how
each of us feel and what we know about them, to look at them from
different points-of-views, and then to relate them back to HIV
prevention.
ThinkTanks are a mixture of volunteer training workshops, discussions,
hands-on experiences, leadership & workshop development, demos,
scenarios, role plays, and other stuff.
Some key topics we will explore include: HIV/AIDS and STIs, sex,
sexuality, relationships, communication, drugs, alcohol, harm
reduction, oppression, workshop facilitation and outreach…and
much more!
What Peer Educators Do
Together as a team, Smart Cookies plan and conduct workshops
and presentations youth all over the city. We go to high
schools, community organizations, and youth groups and facilitate
HIV/STI prevention workshops.
Peer Educators also do outreach—we go to different areas
of Toronto to hand out safer sex kits and talk to Asian youth
to increase awareness about preventing HIV/STIs. We go to
community events, health fairs, night clubs, and other places
where Asian youth hang out.
We believe that young people have a right to make their own choices,
and a right to any information they need to make those choices.
Peer Educators take a nonjudgmental, peer-to-peer approach in
giving out information and answering questions.
Contacts
For more information regarding the Youth Program or to volunteer
as a Peer Educator, please contact the Youth Education and Outreach
Coordinator
Chi Ching Hui
Youth Education and Outreach Coordinator
416 963-4300, extension 29
youth@acas.org
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