Keri Hilson will be leading the MTV Staying Alive Foundation team alongside Team VIACOM for the AIDS WALK NEW YORK 2012, taking place in New York City on Sunday, May 20th.

As our 2012 Ambassador, Hilson will participate in the 10km walkathon around New York’s famous Central Park taking steps to raise money and awareness around our mission here at the MTV Staying Alive Foundation.

YOU can be a part of #KerisKrew and walk with Keri Hilson herself by signing up for the AIDS Walk NEW York HERE

Speaking about the MTV Staying Alive Foundation Keri Hilson had this to say:
“I’ve met such amazing young people in their inspirational mission to break taboos, foster tolerance, and spread the message of HIV protection in their local communities,

“I am honoured in my capacity as Ambassador of the MTV Staying Alive Foundation to take part in such a great initiative, and I encourage everyone to help in some way – come out and join me or donate at www.stayingalivefoundation.org on behalf of the MTV Staying Alive Foundation!”

All donations will be split between aiding our mission at the MTV Staying Alive Foundation and 2012 AIDS Walk organiser GMHC, a not-for-profit, volunteer-supported, and community-based organisation committed to national leadership in the fight against AIDS.

If YOU would like to walk alongside Keri Hilson in #KerisKrew at the AIDS Walk New York: Sign up HERE

Or to show your support for Keri Hilson you can make a donation HERE.

We thought it was about time we posted the complete series of our Kenyan hit drama Shuga: Love, Sex, Money in one place for YOU!

We have posted all 6 episodes of Shuga: Love, Sex, Money and the Shuga wrap up show #ThatShugaMoment below:

Chapter 1: #ShugaSex

This chapter looks at the story of Baby and Vio aka Violet from the first series of Shuga. It is a universal story exploring the role of parents, role models and the people we look up to and respect, who can either make a positive or negative impact on our lives. We explore the themes of rape, living positively and talking to parents with your  For more information on these themes have a read of the resources section here:

Shuga: Love, Sex, Money Episode 1: Vio gets a job for SWAG magazine and writes about her HIV+ status yet her father demands she withdraw her column. Meanwhile Baby confides in her mother about her uncle’s inappropriate advances but is dismissed.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Shuga: Love, Sex, Money Episode 2: This episode covers the frightening realities of substance misuse which causes Vio to become over intoxicated on alcohol, leading her to having sex with Winston, potentially exposing him to HIV. Meanwhile Baby is reunited with her father and her uncle is arrested.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Chapter 2: #ShugaLove

This chapter explores the question: “Why is one not enough?”, it’s all about how we use the word love and trust and, in using them dishonestly we fool only ourselves and often put ourselves at risk. We explore the themes of “Multiple Concurrent partnerships”, and “Low risk perception” for more information on these themes have a read of the resources section here:

Shuga: Love, Sex, Money Episode 3: Episode 3 looks at the relationship between Dala and Leo… and Femi and with the introduction of Miss B’Have shows us why sex should always be practiced safely irrespective of time spent in a relationship.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Shuga: Love, Sex, Money Episode 4: A huge climax of an episode here as all of the pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place and the consequences of people’s actions catch up with them; the dangers of unprotected sex are made apparent.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Chapter 3: #ShugaMoney

This is the story of Angelo and Kipepeo. This is also a story about respecting yourself and how easy it is to be side tracked when pursuing your dreams. However it is also a story of second chances. Through the character Angelo we explore how people can make their lives whole again, how respecting yourself matters especially when faced with difficult choices. It explores the themes of Transactional Sex” and “Substance abuse with alcohol” For more information on these themes have a read of our resources section here:

Shuga: Love, Sex, Money Episode 5: Kipepeo chases her dream life in Nairobi, after winning a talent competition. Kipepeo’s mother gives her a condom and instructs her to be safe. But when things don’t go to plan she calls on Angelo for a place to stay.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Shuga: Love, Sex, Money Episode 6: Kipepeo engages in transactional sex with someone she meets in  which Angelo helps her out of, yet she still showed some sense by insisting on using protection. The final episode closes with a resounding message of choosing the company you keep wisely amongst many other themes that have been explored in this series.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Wrap Up Show: That Shuga Moment

Named after the #ThatShugaMoment hashtag which was #2 trending topic worldwide when Shuga: Love, Sex, Money premiered – #ThatShugaMoment brought together the cast, crew and local celebrities such as Banky W, Wizkid and L-Tido to talk about some of the key issues and messages from the show.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So there you have it! What do YOU think of the Shuga: Love, Sex, Money series? Which Character do YOU most relate to? And which message did YOU engage with the most?

Hi my name is Michael Kent.  I’m 18 years old from Chelmsford in Essex and I’m a volunteer for the Terrence Higgins Trust Sexual Health Champions Programme.  On the Programme we learnt about sexuality and issues around it, such as homophobic bullying and pregnancy.  As part of the programme I was asked to attend the CHAPS 15 conference in Bristol.

CHAPS is a nationwide sexual health promotion strategy aimed at gay, bisexual and other homosexually active men. As a young gay man I felt it might be an opportunity for me to learn something – and get a trip to Bristol thrown in!  Over the last 10 months I’ve become more interested in the idea of working on LGBT related issues; this is what led me to join the Sexual Health Champions Programme; which in turn led me to the conference.

So, Wednesday 29th of February I arrived in Bristol looking fabulous, ready to learn something new.  I attended sessions looking at Health Promotion, Mental Health of MSM (men who have sex with men) and Creating Safe School Environments for LGBT Youth among others.  I found all the sessions quite accessible although it did make me feel that I still have a lot to learn, especially about HIV. The bit that had the greatest impact on me was the session on Transgender – I feel like I really absorbed some useful knowledge.

Once the Champions Programme finishes next month I plan to continue working as volunteer for Terrence Higgins Trust and set up an LGBT youth group. I’ve had a lot of local interest about this and I feel that I learned a lot at CHAPS that will be useful in this project. Overall, I did some really useful networking and met people doing the work I would like to be doing in the next 5/10 years. I left CHAPS 15 feeling inspired by the stories I heard about people’s lives and projects from all around the country.

Michael shows great dedication and maturity as a young gay person in society and seems to be doing a great job working on LGBT related issues.

What do you think of Michael’s efforts?

All of us at Staying Alive HQ are very proud to announce that our Kenyan drama Shuga: Love, Sex, Money has been nominated for a One World Media Award.

We have been nominated in the drama category alongside Canana’s Miss Bala and Cinga Production’s Otelo Burning. Naturally, we are really honoured to be considered for the award.

If you haven’t already – you can catch up with Shuga: Love, Sex, Money HERE or by clicking the image below:

Read Vio’s much talked about article SWAG Magazine featured in Shuga: Love, Sex, Money…

What Your Momma Never Told You

My father said everything in life is mathematics… even human beings. He said that we are the product of people who add to us and the sum of those who take away from us. I never understood this lesson until the day I discovered I was… HIV positive.

As a high school teacher education has always been a topic in our house. Education was serious and not to be messed around with. For as long as I can remember wanting to make my father proud, wanting to make my family proud has always been important to me.

After finishing school, I was really lucky and got a place at a good university. Everything was so exciting, so new and so much to be explored. I couldn’t wait to be totally independent and immediately found a place to share in the city with some friends.

Nairobi night life was a new world. All the people, music, clubs, drinks… the men! I’d never seen so much of it in my life and it was fun with a capital F. At school I was always the girl everyone teased about being too tall and too thin…now suddenly I was the one everyone noticed, I was being romanced, offered weekends out of town in 5 star hotels with men who made me feel like a princess…. and it felt good. Why not?!

I was young, I had the energy, I knew I was going to finish my degree and get a job eventually, but hey, why the rush? Life is short and I wanted to make the most of it.

All the partying meant I did not do any part time work to pay for my rent and clothes, but I quickly worked out that I could get my clandys to cover my costs. It was so easy to get cell phone money, weaves, even cash to put towards my rent.

My flatmate Sindi did not approve, she used to get on my case insisting if I was going to have multiple men in my life that I use condoms, she thought I was too wild.   Hey, I knew it could be dangerous and I’d had a few scares but I had never actually been hurt. I exercised, ate well and my life was FUN!

Then one night… I got carried away… again. I bumped into an old boyfriend, more like a friend with benefits if you know what I mean. I had far too many ‘panty removers’, we got totally wrecked, I remember driving through Nairobi at night, the wind in my hair, not a care in the world. And the rest is blank, actually I often blanked out when I drank a lit.

Little did I know that the feeling of freedom was about to come to an abrupt end. My life changed. I’d soaked up too much. My friend with benefits didn’t know that he was HIV positive. You see, he like me had been soaking up a bit too much of Nairobi too.

When I was diagnosed positive, I felt awful for a few weeks. I cried. I shouted. I was just so mad at myself, at him. I thought it was the end of my world. But somewhere in the back of my mind, through all this, my dreams were still floating around. I still had things I wanted to live for. I had friends I could be open with and talk to, and they stood by me. Even Sindi who could have said “I told you so”, did not. She came to counseling, she stuck with me. And I had my family… I hadn’t told them yet… but we were still close.

I knew when the time was right I would tell them and I hoped that they would stick by me. I realized that I could have everything I dreamt of, just not in the same way as I had been going about it. Real freedom does not come from getting drunk and sleeping around. It comes from making the choices that are best for you.

So my life changed and I’ve never felt better. Crazy right? No, now I am in control. I date, I go clubbing, I dress up and I look good! Now though, I don’t order a cosmopolitan, I order a virgin cocktail. I don’t sleep with men on the first date, I now have a 10 date rule and I’ll tell you something, it’s helped me keep out all  the dodgy men.

If I make it to the 10th date I tell him my status, so he can make a choice if he wants to keep dating me before we take it to the next level. My T-cell count is now the same as that of someone without HIV.  My life hasn’t stopped, I still have fun, but my priorities have changed and my life is actually better for it. Being HIV positive has not ended my life. It’s made it me more positive about it.

Life is like mathematics. We’re not only the product of what people add or take away from us but also what we add and take away from our own lives.

What do you think of Vio’s post? And to what extent do you agree with her final sentence above?

We thought we would pass by and share the love with all of our fans of Shuga: Love, Sex, Money by sending the first two episodes of the sequel to our award winning Kenyan hit drama Shuga.

These are the first two episodes that aired on Feb 14th (YES Valentine’s Day) and Feb 21st respectively.

The response in Kenya has been phenomenal so far – one quick search for the #ShugaLSM hashtag will give you an insight into just what people are saying so far…

Check out episode 1 and 2 below and be sure to let us know what you think

Shuga: Love, Sex, Money Episode 1

Click here to view the embedded video.

Shuga: Love, Sex, Money Episode 2

Click here to view the embedded video.

There you have it! The first 2 episodes of the new series of Shuga: Love, Sex, Money… What did YOU think?

A couple of discussion points:

Baby – What do you think would have happened if Baby didn’t have Violet to confide in?

Vio – Despite slipping up with Winston – what do you think Vio’s actions after her mistake showed about her?

Let us know what you think… and tweet us using #ShugaLSM

So first things first, it’s #ShugaPremiere day! A time where a select few – cast members, artists, celebrities, press and competition winners  will be able to get a sneak peek of Shuga: Love, Sex, Money – the sequel to our Kenyan hit drama Shuga – before the first episode airs on MTV Base on Feb 14th – yes – Valentine’s Day!

In other news,  we recently launched the official Shuga: Love, Sex, Money title track, featuring some of Africa’s finest artists Banky W, WizKid, L-Tido and Bon’Eye – the self titled track – Shuga: Love, Sex, Money can be downloaded exclusively for FREE exclusively from the Shuga.tv site.

Head on over, have a listen and let us know what YOU think of the free track, (which we have had on loop ever since we first laid our ears on it in the office.

In addition to the free download – artists Banky W, WizKid, L-Tido and Bon’Eye were all busy with several of the cast members yesterday filming the video for the track which we can’t wait to see – we will keep you posted as soon as MTV Base give us the go-ahead to share that!

The last update for today is is to give a massive shout out to the #RisingStars – those bright young guys who have been part of the Shuga mentorship programme and have been instrumental in the Shuga: Love, Sex, Money campaign so far – be it in the actual production, to the content on the Shuga.tv site to the marketing and PR of the premiere and other events… no doubt they will be on the ground and off their feet during the premiere – so props where due!

That’s about it from us today – but to keep track of all things Shuga: Love, Sex, Money today – make sure you check out the #ShugaPremiere hashtag – that is unless you want to save yourself for February 14th

Shout Out to @MTVShuga - our sexual health campaign and drama set in Nairobi, Kenya – for their success in trending worldwide on twitter with #ThatShugaMoment…

For those of you who may have missed it – @MTVShuga launched a competition on Wednesday to win a pair of tickets to our EXCLUSIVE premiere of Shuga: Love, Sex, Money on the 10^th February.

A competition was launched to get @MTVShuga fans and followers to submit their very own #ThatShugaMoment… with a chance to win tickets to the exclusive launch of Shuga: Love, Sex, Money premiere which is taking place in Nairobi, Kenya on 10th February 2012.

FYI #ThatShugaMoment is defined as:

“@MTVShuga: #ThatShugaMoment = a moment when YOU have been required to make a split second decision around an issue relevant to #Shuga #LoveSexMoney”

The competition went viral – Within minutes #ThatShugaMoment was trending in Nairobi, Kenya and within an hour it was the #2 Trending Topic on Twitter Worldwide!

The day ended with over 2,000 people tweeting their own #ThatShugaMoment with a mix of serious, creative and straight up funny entries to the competition.

@MTVShuga have selected their top 10 #ThatShugaMoment tweets and now want YOU to vote for your favourite – and decide on who YOU think should win the tickets…

To VOTE go to http://mtvshuga.com/2012/01/thatshugamoment-%E2%80%93-vote-for-your-favourite/

Let the voting commence

You may remember us calling out for applicants on our Facebook and Twitter platforms back in November to get you all to apply to be part of the drafting committee -well after a grueling interview process the final 10 young people to be part of Team CrowdOutAIDS have been chosen.

The role of the CrowdOutAIDS drafting committee will be to bring all of the great crowdsourced ideas that YOU put forward and transform them into an objective, clear and actionable plan that UNAIDS should adhere to when engaging and working with young people.

So where next for the new recruits?

The CrowdOutAIDS drafting committee will spend the next couple of weeks in training in analyzing data, and training in the different tools used to create the UNAIDS strategy – and the best thing is it will all be done online via Google Docs.

If you want to play a part in this process you can! You will be able to make comments and have an input in the strategy as it is drafted in real time

And keep an eye out on the CrowdOutAIDS platform where you will soon be able to suggest specific actions to be included int the UNAIDS strategy which will be implemented between 2012-2015.

So props to UNAIDS who are entering exciting times and allowing young people to really drive their strategy on youth and HIV.

Make sure you check out, (and follow) the global CrowdOutAIDS team below:

Tsoarelo Molapo, Lesotho @tsoarelo

Tšoarelo Molapo is a ‘contradiction in terms;’- a lawyer in the making from the mountain kingdom of Lesotho with a weakness for shoes and amusement parks!

She has a keen interest in HIV related issues; humanitarian law, in particular; refugee law and strangely, taxation law. She also enjoys reading and travelling.

She holds a B Soc Sci. in Psychology and Organisational Psychology from the University of Cape Town and an LLB (Law) degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and is hopefully enrolling for a Masters degree in International Tax Law in September of 2012.

Dzhura Alexey, Russia @dzhuralex

Twenty four years old Alexey is currently a post-graduate student, studying linguistics. He is very active and has been managing and implementing different activities on HIV prevention among youth for four years. He currently works with an NGO in Russia, as a volunteer and as a staff. His experience also includes interning at UNFPA CO. In March 2011, he participated in Mali Youth Summit. “Now I am representative of my country at Global Youth Peer Education Network (Y-PEER) – focal point in charge, and I attempt to make some changes, to find solutions and to be helpful.”

Folake Soetan, Nigeria @FolakeSoetan

Folake is an aspiring Consultant in Global Health with a drive for improving health systems and making healthcare accessible to all. She received her B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Oregon in 2008 and after graduating, spent time working at the National Institutes of Health, USA.

On returning to Nigeria in 2009, she spent two years organising corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities for two leading healthcare companies while handling numerous public relations and media projects. Folake assisted with the development of ‘Doctors on Air’ the medical radio programme and coordinated the inaugural ‘Doctors on Air’ Medical Mission which mobilised top clinics in Nigeria to provide a variety of medical services to underprivileged populations in Lagos. She is currently pursuing a master’s in Global Health and Development at University College London, UK.

Patrick Chui, Hong Kong, China @patrickchui

Patrick received a Master’s Degree in Social Policy and Social development in 2011, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology in 2009. He is currently studying Master of Social Sciences in Social Work. He has experience working in social services for sexual minorities in a Hong Kong-based NGO.

Benedicte Kouassi Kouassi, Cote d’Ivoire @KouassiNina

Benedicte is a young HIV activist from Cote d’Ivoire who works at the Executive Secretariat of the West African Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS. Her work there is focused around project proposal writing, translation, research and liaising with English speaking countries. She focuses on stigma and discrimination against PLHA, Sexual and reproductive health, Human and Children rights, and Education. Benedicte graduated from the University of Abidjan Cocody with a double major in English and linguistics where she studied organizational behavior and management in relation with language use. She also holds a certificate of social Entrepreneurship from the University of Connecticut Global Training and Development Institute. She enjoys reading, researching and networking.

Zahra Benyahia, Algeria @zahrabenyahia

Zahra, also called Zaz by friends, is a 23 years old graduate with a major in Hotels management and Spanish. Her favorite hobbies are culinary art, photography and writing.  She lives in Algeria, dedicating a lot of her time (working) on causes in social life in the fields of HIV response, peer education, media, youth activities, programming and advocacy.

“Most of people describe me as a trustworthy and challenging girl. I like to give the best of me to what I believe in and I am always inspired by the small things that everyone holds inside of him. My biggest dream is to see the citizenship spirit in each one’s behavior.“

John Murray, Canada @YAHAnet

John is the 28-year-old coordinator of Youth, the Arts, HIV and AIDS Network (YAHAnet), a global virtual platform for arts-based awareness and advocacy. John works with a team of student interns to produce online HIV awareness campaigns and to hold creative advocacy events in Montréal, Canada. YAHAnet was honoured to host a collage workshop and a photo activity on youth rights related to sexuality and HIV at the 2010 International AIDS Conference in Vienna. John is a graduate of the International Development Studies program at McGill University in Montréal. He has been involved in social justice theatre and has also worked for a Canadian Darfur and Sudan advocacy organisation. John is a part-time copy editor and enjoys web design, sports, community theatre, and making music.

Medha Sharma, Nepal @shmedha

Medha, 22, a public health graduate from Pokhara University, is currently working as Program Coordinator of YUWA, a youth led and youth run organization in Nepal. She has been working on the issues of adolescent SRHR and HIV in grassroots and national level, particularly in advocacy, along with program design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. She is supporting group of young activists working for policy advocacy in Nepal through YUWA in partnership with Advocates for Youth. She has prepared policy brief on Youth SRHR and HIV policies in Nepal. She has worked in tracking international commitment made by government on SRH and HIV & AIDS like UNGASS, ICPD and MDG. She is also involved in youth activism in Global Fund.

Manuel Rosas-Vazquez, Mexico @manuelrvqz

Manuel has as experience working with the government in Mexico, in the State of Puebla, as advisor in International Affairs. Most recently, he worked for the climate change department, as well in the local government. “I am also a Teacher for college students, in the fields of International negotiations, trade and translation.”

Twenty-eight years old Manuel studied International Relations, majoring in International Politics. He says, “I am really excited to be part of this project and make a difference.”

Andre Robb, Jamaica @robbizle7

Twenty-four years old Andre has worked for the government and civil society on Youth Development, HIV programmes and comprehensive sexuality education programmes in Jamaica.

Andre’s advocacy in his country allows him to represent young people on local and international committees and working groups. He is now committed to building social innovation and social entrepreneurship among young Caribbean change makers.

So what do you think of the team? And what do you think of UNAIDS decision to let young people drive their strategy around HIV?

In additional to the long anticipated six-part sequel – Shuga: Love, Sex, Money being launched on February 14th 2012, (yes that is Valentine’s day!) We are also proud to announce that we will be launching Shuga Radio to run concurrently with the series.

Shuga Radio will aim to go deeper into some of the messages in Shuga: Love, Sex, Money and appeal to both rural and urban young people. While it aims to compliment the TV series it will be delivered as a standalone show and translated into several different languages – so there is a potential to reach an audience far beyond the traditional TV viewers in Nairobi, Kenya.

Exciting times!

Check out the post below from Kevin Oyugi (aka @NateKev) who was part of the 4 day workshops in which participants from all over Africa worked on developing the scripts to the show.

“You may not realize how much goes into the making of an idea or concept unless you are part of the process.”

As part of the Shuga Radio workshop, participants from the likes of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Lesotho, Kenya, and Tanzania were split into two groups, one to tackle the script writing of the radio drama series, and the other to handle another equally exciting project, a magazine show, set to be concurrent with the launch of the series.

The first group, under professional script writer Mel Harris, had to tackle the core development of the plot and build on each character trait of the stars, making them real so that listeners could relate to them and feel they are real people. Rising Stars Dorcas, Arnold and Portia were assigned to this group.

“The biggest question you should ask yourselves is: What If?” Mel told the attendants, as she went on, “Character is based on three principles; action, story and engagement.”

The second group, under experienced editor and journalist Russell Crewe took a crash course in becoming excellent journalists. Rising Stars Kevin and Julie were part of this group. They dealt with training on preparing interviews, developing features, taking vox pops and reporting safely as Russell listed ways in which journalists should be responsible in not just their work, but in the way they take care of themselves.

A section of the Shuga Radio workshop participants from around the continent also got the opportunity to record in studio, as they visited Homeboyz Entertainment. At a point, the Lesothans and South Africans broke into song as each group celebrated the diversity of their cultures.

The radio workshop was an amazing experience! We can’t wait for Shuga Radio to hit the airwaves so stay tuned and be sure to let us know what you think when you hear it

What did you think of Kevin’s post? What do you think are the benefits of radio as opposed to TV when it comes to sexual health messaging?