"I believe in thinking positive, I believe in finding solutions.

I am Sadaf, I am 21 years old. I just graduated in communication studies last month from the University of Punjab.

I had always been interested in development communication as my major subject in academics. But after joining FPA Pakistan last year it introduced me with actual meaning of terms I studied thousand times in course books e.g. development, advocacy, community support services, motivation and participation…

Now being media personnel working in the domain of youth based magazine and talk shows all that I have learnt from my experiences reflect in my work.

Every single moment of my one year journey with FPAP was fruitful and fulfilling.

Starting with an internship at FHI family health international, where I had been given a chance to talk to very senior and experienced sexually transmitted infections (STI) physicians and experts, it added a lot in my knowledge.

Then the youth summit that happened at Sri Lanka in 2007: it gave me an opportunity to not only express myself in an international forum but also taught me to listen and respect other people’s opinions.

I attended ICCAP in Sri Lanka, we penned down our experience: it introduced us with the essence of reporting and writing pictorial articles.

In short this event was the practical training of self expression and empowerment.

I learnt to talk about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of youth and I feel myself more informed, more confident and empowered, more open and vocal about youth problems.

I believe in thinking positive, I believe in finding solutions.

After that I wrote number of scripts for a short serial on the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS. Those have been on air through local channels of Pakistan.

In October 2008, I had been called as a speaker and moderator in an international conference on HIV and AIDS named as R.E.A.C.H 08 organized by “Save Lanka Kids”.

I moderated sessions on respect and responsibility and spoke on sexual and reproductive rights.

Seeing other members of the FPA family and dearest friends of mine Millinda Rajapaksha (Sri lanka) Niraj Lacoul (Nepal) was a great pleasure.

I believe we the youth together can bring a change, and I am grateful to IPPF for actually polishing our skills and giving us a platform to grow and make this world our dream place.

There’s a youth summit happening at Islamabad Pakistan from 29 November 2008 to 1st December, 2008. I am participating in it as youth activist and young media personnel.