My name is Susan Mc Donald, and I am an HIV Clinical Nurse Specialist based at St Mary’s hospital, London. I was kindly invited by the WhizzKid himself, Marcus McGilvray, to join him and his Africaid team of volunteers, to support the WhizzKids United life skills programme. This superb programme was set up by Marcus, about two years ago.I say superb, with sincerity, as what I have experienced has been nothing less. The dedication behind this programme from Marcus, his volunteers, the WhizzKids life skills trainers and the peer educators has been inspiring. This really is an example of collaborative working, to address the many difficult issues that teenagers are up against in South Africa, and particularly Edendale, KwaZulu Natal.So lets start at the beginning……after a long exhausting trip I was warmly greeted by Jay, holding a card with AFRCIAID sprawled in capital letters and my name neatly printed underneath. It’s always such a relief to be found!So off we go, with my luggage and a dozen football strips that survived the Jo-burg transfer, to number 313, the heart of the project.I meet the rest of the crew, Marcus, Claire, Hanna, Stefan and Khona, who are all as welcoming as Jay! It’s been a long day, so off to bed as it’s always an early start in Africa.It’s about 80km’s from Durban to Edendale, which at least one member of the team travel’s everyday. Stefan looks excited as we pull up at the school. He tells me that the most enjoyable part of his work here is spending time with the life skills trainers and the school kids. We head down to the pitch, loaded with footballs and flip charts. This is where football meets real life goals and aspirations. WhizzKids United is not only about inspiring young people, but it recognises the need for young people to build and develop skills and confidence to enable them to tackle difficult life choices. The rate of HIV infection within this teenage population is about 16%, and it makes sense that the way to reduce this is to empower youth. With this in mind, the programme has also recognised the need for a holistic health service dedicated to meet the needs of teenagers in the area. The ‘teen clinic’s’ vision is a “one stop shop” for teenagers, where they can access a range of services, including HIV VCT. However most importantly, a place they can go and feel safe to talk. This is an ongoing joint project between WhizzKids United and Edendale hospital. Here is another example of collaborative work in practice.So after an eventful day at the pitch, it’s back to the drawing board to set up a workshop that will hopefully be a learning experience for the WhizzKids United life skills trainers and Myself.The reflective bit …….well 4 workshop’s later, and the evaluation forms are saying all the right things. In my experience, the workshops were an opportunity to share issues and concerns and to look at different skills and methods that can be used to support young people, who are a challenging group within any society and culture.A big thank you to Marcus for inviting me along and to everybody I’ve met during my stay. It’s been a wonderful experience, both working alongside a dedicated team of volunteers and meeting nurse colleagues in the hospital that are clearly very skilled and experienced practitioners, managing caseloads that would be a challenge to any nurse or health professional in the UK.Thanks again and keep up the good work WhizzKids! I’ll certainly be spreading the word back in the UK.Susan