Who's Positive, a national, non-profit organization focused on HIV awareness and prevention, is proud to announce OPERATION: Get Tested (OGT), a national tour of young adults dedicated to making a difference in the struggle against HIV/AIDS.

OGT will enable six HIV-positive youth between the ages of 18 and 26 to travel across the country on a mission to put a human face on HIV, and, in the process, help to prevent and reduce infection rates among youth and provide opportunity for youth to be tested for HIV.

Overview

October 15 (National Latino HIV Awareness Day) to December 1 (World AIDS Day) Six HIV-positive youth between 19 and 26 of diverse backgrounds Twelve person sleeper tour bus 33 stops; college/universities and high schools Tour route: New York to Florida to California Three day speaker summit October 13, 14, & 16th

We will have two teams of three. One of the three one person team will present their "Who's Positive" (60 minute) program. This Who's Positive program incorporates a hypothetical HIV test card and will specifically speak on this individuals story. We feel that focusing in on one story during the first part of the program will be a power approach to begin the program. At the conclusion of the individual's program we will take the two others of that team to do a 30 minute round table discussion.

Free HIV testing will be conducted at most tour stop locations.  Most stops will be providing the OraQuick® ADVANCE Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test is the first and only FDA approved, CLIA waived, rapid point-of-care test that provides results for both HIV-1 and HIV-2 with greater than 99% accuracy in as little as 20 minutes, using an oral fluid, finger-stick or venipuncture whole blood or plasma sample.

Who's Positive is excited to welcome endorsing organizations such as the Black AIDS Institute, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Latino Commission on AIDS to name a few into this outreach. We feel that with the stories, the programming, and with testing that this will provide an outlet for national exposure again bringing awareness that youth need to have a voice when it comes to HIV/AIDS. Who's Positive feels we have the networking available to work with national organizations as well as national media outlets to provide a platform that people will listen to. We have the organizational skills to schedule the events, provide support to the host schools, offer an array of stories from different ethnic and backgrounds and provide programming that will make history.

What to expect at a stop:
You may be asking what should we be expecting from a tour stop?  Each official tour stop – or program will be about an hour and a half.  Three of our six person HIV positive team will speak at your location.  As everyone enters into the room, everyone will be handed sealed cards that Who’s Positive will provide.  These cards are what we call our hypothetical HIV test cards.  They will have a hypothetical HIV test result on the inside of the card, the result is indicated by a large positive or negative sign with the respective status under the sign.  Our youth will enter the venue just like everyone else and sit among the audience.  The program will begin with a facilitator (of the host committee’s choosing) welcoming the audience, thanking our/your sponsors and reading a script which will include “As you all entered into the room you were all testing for the HIV virus… in your hand sits your results… someone in this room is HIV positive”  As those assembled wonder if they are the one chosen to be positive, one of the three member team from Who’s Positive will stand among the audience of their peers and begin the program by saying “I may look like you, act like you; I might even be the same age of some of you; but could any of you ever tell that I am HIV positive?”   This single team member will embrace the audience with the specifics of their story for about forty minutes.  They will share the intimate details of the circumstances surrounding them being infected with HIV and stories leading up to the day of program.  By doing this, we find that for about forty minutes the audience begins to evaluate their own actions and behaviors.  About forty minutes into the program, our positive youth will then engage the audiences asking them what they are thinking about when it comes to the card they are holding in their hands.  “How might the results in your hand change your life?”  Our positive youth would engage the audience in this discussion.  Then the audience would open their cards.  Once again our positive youth would engage in audience discussion about how their hypothetical test results would change their lives and inquire as to the feelings and emotions they are feeling as they come face to face with their results.  Following discussion on that the positive youth would wrap up the formal discussion about their own life and would then introduce two additional youth who would then open up a community discussion about HIV/AIDS.  A thirty minute forum would begin with the speaker and two other positive youth.  Total program length approximately ninety minutes.

Sponsorship
Who's Positive is excited to incorporate national organizations and corporate sponsors into our efforts to facilitate for HIV/AIDS issues. Partners and sponsors will benefit from the national exposure of OGT's tour events, including speaking engagements and support to the host schools.

Speakers
Visit our meet the speakers page and introduce yourself to our speakers  http://www.whospositive.org/ogt_speakers.php Don’t forget to visit their journals as they travel throughout the country.

Route
Because the OGT tour is beginning on National Latino HIV Awareness Day, New York City was selected as the launch point. New York has the highest number of overall infections as well as the highest number of Latino infections in the United States. Who’s Positive is currently seeking interested schools; high school and colleges and organizations which may be interested in serving as a host committee.  To submit your location as a potential tour stop for our potential 2007 tour visit http://www.whospositive.org/contact/beastop.php

2006 tour stops can be viewed by going to http://www.whospositive.org/ogt_schedule.php

Media
All media inquiries should be directed to our in transit mobile by calling our office at 814-861-3345 and dialing extension 3601.
To view our press kits, visit http://www.whospositive.org/ogt_presskits.php