Age: 21 years (DOB: 6th of November 1983)

About me

Ayodeji Adewunmi was born into a family of six, the last of four children. He speaks Yoruba (native), fluent English, and understands Spanish.

Since 18, Ayodeji has been passionate about developmental issues, having been involved in well over two dozen projects at the local, national and international levels. His first involvement in HIV issues came in the fall of 2003, when he worked with Dr Chittick in Nigeria.

Ayodeji is an undergraduate student at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria where he is currently pursuing a degree in medicine & surgery. His career interests are within the broad spectrum of Health Policy, Planning and Financing. Following university and some practicing, he hope to keep his life long learning attitude and do graduate studies at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the Yale School of Management.

Outside studies, Ayodeji do some consulting for clickITnigeria (an ICT initiative), and has recently completed an assignment with the British Council on how youth activist could become more efficient in their work. From January 2005, Ayodeji would be on a 6 months break as Chief Partnerships Officer of the International Young Professionals Foundation. This would allow him to have sometime to start the implementation phase of the Malaria Campaign of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA). A Campaign he initiated with Victoria Lee, a colleague from Canada.

This December (2004), Ayodeji would be traveling to Ghana to run the first Regional Training Session on Malaria at the African Medical Students Training Congress. He would also be in Egypt in July and August 2005 to organize the International Workshop on Malaria, the first of its kind in the 53 years history of the Federation.

On the home front, Ayodeji works on the Genesis Learning Network of AIESEC Ife the HIV/AIDS network of AIESEC International. He also volunteers sometime with the Campus Health and Rights Initiative, a project that enjoys funding from the MacArthur Foundation.

One of his notable strengths is the ability to bring people, organisations and systems of common interest together. He has considerable experience in project design, liaison, building partnerships and fundraising.

Ayodeji is very keen about his new role as a member of the Global Advisory Board of TeenAIDS-PeerCorps. As always, he is happy to lend his skills, knowledge, energy and network to the growth and development of the organisation.

Report of Dr. John Chittick AIDS walk in Nigeria

Introduction

I had the great pleasure of hosting Dr. John Chittick in Nigeria in the fall of 2003. It all started with an email introduction from Pierre Andipatin of the Global Youth Action Network, and then we both went ahead to explore possible itinerary schedules and other logistics with the Obafemi Awolowo University Medical Students’ Association. In reporting back to colleagues, I said Dr Chittick’s visit marked the first time in history when the 20,000 + student community at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU, www.oauife.edu.ng) will have an international renowned expert to speak at the World AIDS Day Celebration.

This report is in two parts. The first part outlines his visit, including the places he visited and the activities that took place.  The second part analyses my very own observations of his work with young people and at the university in Ile-Ife.

Personally, the greatest impression he left with me was his energy and passion to reach out to young people by educating, empowering and engaging them about how they can save their lives and those of friends.

I hope this will be a useful report.

Your comments are welcomed at adewunmiayodeji@gmail.com

 
Ayodeji Adewunmi
April 2006

The Visit

Dr. John Chittick arrived in Nigeria in the last week of November 2003 and I alongside other medical students’ leaders when to pick him up at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. Approximately, Lagos is a 3 hours journey from Ile-Ife where we embarked on the journey to meet our special guest.

From the Airport, we headed to the Sofitel Hotel Moorhouse, Ikoyi Lagos where Dr. John resided for 3 days. During his stay in the largest city in Nigeria, Dr John featured in the National Television Authority (largest news network in Africa) and also had speaking engagements at the Nigerian-French School.

In Ile-Ife where he spent the bulk of his stay and time, Dr John resided at the Conference Centre and Guest House Ltd of the Obafemi Awolowo University during his weeklong stay. Dr. John reached out to students in both their residential apartments and hall of residence. He also seized the opportunity to tell and educate students along the corridors, pedestrian path and restaurants about HIV/AIDS and how they could prevent themselves from this scourge. On the 1st of December 2003, Dr John was the guest speaker at the Symposium organised by the medical student community as part of the World AIDS Day celebration. He talked extensively on the youth demographic as the most vulnerable group and provided timeless insights into how young people can help to protect themselves. A Question & Answer session followed after his talk. One of maxim he reinforced during his presentation is, “If you love a friend, you tell him/her about HIV/AIDS”.

Dr John also seized the opportunity to reach out to young people within the broader Ile-Ife township; from the market squares, churches to relaxation hotspots. He reached out to virtually everyplace imaginable.

On the last three days of his stay in Ile-Ife, he walked through Osun State talking to young people in the following towns: Ilesa, Ipetumodu, Moro, Eduabo and the State Capital – Osogbo. In the State Capital, Dr John talked in three different Secondary Schools and also paid a courtesy call to the Osun State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Journalists (NUJ) where he spelt out the vision and mission of his global AIDS walk. Following his visit to the NUJ, Dr. John’s walk was featured in major national new dailies, notably The Guardian Newspaper.


What made it a success?

•    Outreach: during the course of his visit, Dr John reached out an estimated average of 40,000 young people directly with a potential of a higher number from the media publicity and exposure his walk received

•    Impact: from the feedbacks received during and after his visit, Dr John was able to impact positively on young people in Nigeria by providing them with advice and direction for leading healthy lives. Emails were also received from numerous individuals that served as testament to this.

•    Participatory: Dr John has an interactive way of engaging his audiences that outwit the “didactic nature” of most advocacy programmes. He talks with young on broad issues of life and uses everyday life encounters in most cases to convey and reinforce the heart of his message – HIV/AIDS prevention. Young people find it so easy to share their fears and concerns with this man. A session with Dr John was always interactive, compelling and intriguing.


Conclusion

Dr John’s walk in Nigeria was a case of optimism and hope for the future of the country. Dr John helped many young people to renew their beliefs on AIDS and he went on to provide them with the tools and resources to make the right choices and decisions.

This visit was made possible with the invaluable help and support of the Obafemi Awolowo University Medical Students’ Association. With a short timeframe to put arrangements in place, my colleagues proved very resourceful.

Considering the population of Nigeria, for future visits, it is suggested that more time be put into planning, to allow for better outreach and impact, by providing more ground to reach all the 6 geoppolitical zones including the Federal Capital Territory – Abuja.

Thank you for reading this brief report.