“You’re not going to be the same person when you leave here.”
It was a message Yvette Raphael, the African Women Prevention Community Accountability Board (AWPCAB) chairperson, repeated throughout the two-day HIV Prevention in Action Academy training in Nairobi.
At the time, it may have sounded like a challenge. By the end of the training, it felt more like a promise.
For two days, 18 Academy champions from across Kenya gathered in one room. Each brought their own experiences, questions, perspectives, and hopes for the future. What united them was a shared commitment to learning more about HIV prevention and a desire to make a difference in their communities.
The training, organized by AWPCAB in collaboration with WACI Health and the Advocacy for Prevention of HIV and AIDS (APHA), marked an important moment in the champions’ Academy journey.
For months, the champions had been learning through the Academy under the guidance of Joyce Ng’ang’a and the wider AWPCAB team. The Nairobi gathering provided an opportunity to learn together, connect face-to-face, and deepen conversations around HIV prevention, relationships, gender-based violence, pregnancy, and prevention options including oral PrEP, the Dapivirine Vaginal Ring, CAB-LA, and Lenacapavir.
Guided by Yvette Raphael using the ZAZI curriculum she developed, the room quickly became more than a training space. There were moments of laughter, reflection, moments when difficult questions were asked and when participants challenged assumptions, shared experiences, and learned from one another.
And then came Day Two. The day champions were asked to teach, not because they had become experts overnight, but because knowledge grows when it is shared. One by one, the champions stepped forward. They facilitated discussions, explained concepts, answered questions, and spoke with a confidence that had grown over months of learning and two days of intensive engagement.
The teach-back sessions revealed something important. The Academy was never only about providing information. It was about building the confidence to carry that information into communities, schools, youth groups, clinics, churches, and conversations where it can make a difference.
Throughout the training, Yvette reminded participants that learning cannot stop with the individual. Knowledge that remains in a notebook changes very little. Knowledge that is shared has the power to open conversations, challenge myths, and help others make informed decisions.
As the training came to a close, champions received certificates from Rosemary Mburu, Executive Director of WACI Health, Yvette Raphael, Patricia Jeckonia of LVCT Health, and Larkin Callaghan from Gilead Sciences. The certificates celebrated what they had achieved. But they also pointed toward what comes next. Because this was never the end of the Academy journey.
The learning continues. The mentorship continues. The growth continues. What changes now is the role of the champions themselves. They are moving from learning to action. In the weeks and months ahead, these 18 champions will return to their communities to lead discussions, create awareness, support their peers, and champion HIV prevention in ways that are relevant to the people around them.
The room in Nairobi may now be empty. But the conversations that began there are only just getting started.