AUDIOVISUAL STI PREVENTION KIT

An innovative project

With the education reform, adolescents unfortunately do not have access to classes on sexual health at school. The consequences are disastrous. Our team notices every day how uninformed the kids are nowadays (asking, for example: "What is a menstrual cycle?"), or perhaps worse, how former preconceived ideas are reappearing (for example: "AIDS can be transmitted through saliva!").

It was important for us to overcome this new problem. We therefore conceived an interactive prevention tool, which is a unique way to sensitize the adolescents we meet. Our main idea was to use multimedia technology to support interventions on the field. Using a portable DVD player, the street worker can now easily show  short video clips dealing with sexual health wherever the young people are, which is a lot better than giving away a pamphlet.

The DVD including all those video clips was developed by PACT de rue according the specific needs brought up by our street workers. During a discussion day, we identified the fundamental themes which need to be tackled: STIs, love relationships, contraception, menstrual cycles, and general sexual health. Two segments were conceptualized: the first segment is instructional and the other one is designed as a quiz. Through this quiz the adolescents are prompted to talk about their personal opinions, which stimulates dialogue and debate in order to overcome prejudice. Illustrations, photos, animations, and music enliven this informational tool. Remember, this kit is not intended to replace the interventions of our street workers, but rather to visually support interactions in a spontaneous and flexible way.

Apart from improving this project for our own needs, we also distributed this kit to our local partners who wanted to use it. More than 30 kits produced by PACT de rue are now circulating. And we are planning to carry on with this successful idea by preparing three more kits based on other important themes: Drugs, Rights and Responsibilities, and Street Work. Still to come!

MY NEIGHBOURHOOD, MY COLOURS, MY SEXUALITY

**photos credits: Yannick Grandmont**

Young people pick up the mike and the camera
  
Young artists coming from different neighbourhoods of Montreal had to reflect on a common theme: safe sex. During information and discussion workshops, participants first learned a great deal on sexually transmitted infections (STIs), on their characteristics and their modes of transmission. Throughout the week, they had to think up a prevention message by writing a song. Our motto at PACT was simple: no censorship, total freedom of expression! My neighbourhood, my colours, my sexuality had to truly represent what these young creators really thought about safe sex. Eight original, modern, and striking songs were created through this process.

After this long writing process, participants were brought in studio so they could record their songs. And the project didn’t stop there. Their creative talents were once again required as they were then asked to write the script for a video clip which would bring their message to life. A second series of workshops then took place: writing techniques, visual semiotics, debates surrounding the stereotypes conveyed in hip hop video clips, as well as video techniques - camera, lighting, editing. Months of work!

We were so impressed by the quality of the video clips they directed that we decided to organize a press screening at the Cinéma Beaubien to remind everyone how committed, vibrant, and eager to take the microphone our youth can be! The theatre was packed and the crowd, made up of journalists, partners, friends, and family members, was thrilled to discover the results of these young artists’ months of hard work and creativity.

The third part of the project then took off, which aimed to give public exposure to these video clips. We found essential that these eight films made by our young directors did not end up gathering dust. This is why we organized a crew of young people who were specially trained to promote the project. For more than a year, they toured the Island of Montreal to show the My neighbourhood, my colours, my sexuality clips and talk about safe sex. They took part in the "Festival des Arts de la rue" and the "Festival d’été de St-Michel (Park François-Legault)", and visited several youth centres as well as high schools and CEGEPs.

Thanks to the support of the Public Health Agency of Canada, we managed to set up this unique sensitization campaign conceived by young people themselves and which directly reached 600 of their peers aged 13 to 30. Mission accomplished!

 * To watch the eight video clips, go the VIDEO section of our website.

ATHLETIC ACTIVITIES, A SURE HIT

This is a plain fact for all community organizations: the projects we develop often vary according to the financing we obtain. Yet we definitely organize certain activities yearlong, such as the weekly sport activities and tournaments. These sports not only allow participants to adopt healthy habits within a positive and flexible framework, they also help our street workers to develop a privileged relationship with them and to intervene if ever any of them need support. Not to mention that letting off steam on a Friday evening by playing basketball can have a positive influence on the rest of this often hectic night…

VIDEO COLLAGE

An exquisite corpse made in St-Michel

Through the financial support of the program Inclusion et Innovation of the City of Montreal and of the Quebec Ministry of Culture, Communications and the Status of Women, a video collage project was set in motion. It was then produced in our St-Michel Drop-In Centre for people aged 18 to 30.

Our goal was simple: to encourage experimentation and creation among young adults. We wanted to multiply points of view so that everyone could reveal their perspective on their environment and their reality, which is often closely knit with hip hop culture. This culture incorporates a whole lifestyle which expresses itself through different artistic activities: music, dance, painting. The participants teamed up to direct short films which would afterwards be assembled in a sequence. These young adults gained remarkable benefits through this project, such as learning teamwork, work discipline, respect of differences, developing a stronger professional autonomy, personal responsibility, and articulating a clear message, all this while acquiring video techniques. The result was so interesting that the film was selected for the festival Rencontres internationationales du documentaire de Montréal (2009), for the event "The Key to my City".     

ZONE 514 is made up of two short films, one on hip hop in Montreal and the other one on a spirited b-boy band. A video interlude merges both films.

* To watch this video collage, go the VIDEO section of our website.

Basketball league

Regulation basketball inter-district

1. 12 players per team maximum, minimum 5 players.
2. Length of matches is 2 ½ times 20 minutes but still the last 2 minutes, down time and the throws are long stop.
3. Extension, 3 minutes stop time.
4. After the fifth team foul, two free throws.
5. Each technical foul, two free throws over possession. The team will lose ½ point for technical foul as well.
6. After the second technical foul ejection from the game.
7. The changes are at the table markers after a basket or a stoppage of play the referee.
8. The referee's decisions must be respected at all times on pain of expulsion of the players involved.
9. Only the team captain may ask for explanations al'arbitre. It is noted that during this time the weather continues to flow.
10. In case of battle or other unsportsmanlike act (calling, intent to injure, aggression etc.). The player or players involved will be automatically expelled for a minimum of two games. This is a team sport, think about your teammate before doing anything excessive.
11. All players must pay $ 20 for registration. Payment is due before July 14. The amount included the jersey.
12. There will be two pools of 4 teams. All teams will play a minimum of 10 games. The three teams from each pool will participate in the playoffs and the first will go directly into the semifinals.

Have fun! 

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