Ayanda's Blog: 18-21 July 2024. 'First' days!

Ubomi Bethu Programme is funded by ViiV Healthcare, a community-led initiative addressing HIV prevention and young people. It is special because it is led by young women attending secondary schools in Ngqushwa Municipality in the Eastern Cape – they designed it, manage it, and monitor it. Ayanda, a Youth Ambassador Leader for the programme is representing Ubunye at AIDS 2204 in Munich. This is her blog:

“First flight. Well, it was my first time boarding a plane. I was so nervous and excited, I had mixed emotions to be precise. I kept looking outside the window to capture everything I could land my eyes on, as much as it was a late (night) flight. Everything looked so perfect from the above view. Getting to travel on a plane was a great experience for me as I'm the first person to board a plane from my family.”

“Arriving at OR Tambo Airport. Seeing the famous OR Tambo was exciting but being inside was definitely superb (smiles). I've always read about how big and busy the airport is but I didn't think I'll be the one stepping my foot there. Besides the excitement of being at OR Tambo, there's nothing that made me as nervous as when the plane was taking off and when landing. The adrenaline rush was out of this world. I think that's one thing I won't get used to any time soon. I've always heard that the airport itself is a tourist attraction. I didn't understand why but after seeing the Mandela sculpture (statue), I got to see why. There are various shops that also have African sculptures.”

“Arriving in Amsterdam. It was just another exciting time of my life. One of the things I noticed was the huge aircrafts, also the big airport. Everything was fascinating. As much as I was exhausted when waiting/approaching the last flight, I just couldn’t wait to see what our destination had in store for us.”

“Arriving in Munich. Everything here is just so different and easy to reach. I didn’t know that one can use a train on a daily basis. Also, there’s a different kind of train that travels on the streets with cars, and it is not exactly called a train, it’s called a tram.”

“I got to know that you purchase your ticket using a machine was something I was not expecting. The buildings are so huge but the views are really breath-taking, everything is just exciting.”

“On the first day of the conference, I was so nervous because I was going to spend time with people I never met and I had to interact with them, but after introductions everything was well. I also became being at ease and I got very comfortable and had more interaction with them.”

“On the second day, I looked forward to attending the conference yet again. I was so eager to learn about what happens in other countries and I’m still looking to attend other conferences and see more of Germany.”

 “We were trying to purchase the weekly train tickets. It was a bit difficult because of the language but we managed to get two tickets for us to travel to and from the conference venue.”

“We then had to ask a man who was passing buy to help us because we were struggling to get the exact tickets we wanted.”

“Here we’re going to board the train, we kind of got lost a bit but we had to ask the lady in front to help us which she gladly did.”

“I scanned the tickets and it was almost like we were activating them to be valid and be useful. It is actually exciting to learn how things operate in other places. This alone is fascinating.”

“We had just arrived at the conference venue and registered. I am so excited to be apart of the conference. This is actually huge for me and I really appreciate the opportunity.”

“Marc Franke. One of the 3 people who are HIV free after having a cell transplant. He is one of the people I am looking forward to have a talk with him as a YHAL. He was kind enough to let me have a picture with him. Highlight of the day.”