On 12 June, a team from the RCH ChIPS program (Chronic Illness Peer Support) departed Melbourne for Paris, France to participate in The International Association of Adolescent Health European Congress. Between events, they’ve brushed the baguette crumbs from their keyboards to keep us updated on the experience. In this dispatch, ChIPs members Scott Campbell and Jemma Young detail their involvement in the Forum de Juene aka the Youth Forum.

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Jemma: After another day of going to sleep to a bright sky (and waking up to an equally bright sky) it was time to head off to ‘forum de jeune’ or youth forum. Elle, Jane, Scott and I took the metro early in the morning and arrived 20 minutes early, much to the surprise of our hosts. It seems it’s polite to be fashionably late over here in France. Scott and I met the other youths from countries including Denmark, Romania, Turkey, Canada, Russia and, of course, France. There was a mix of young people with chronic conditions, medical students and medical professionals facilitating the day. The language barriers were immediately obvious, but everyone was patient with each other (and laughter is a universal language, which made everything easier!) Our first activity was ‘Slam’, a creative exercise. We were given a list of prompts in French (which a bilingual girl kindly translated) and asked to express ourselves through writing, drawing, music or even creative dance. We expressed our way through prompts such as ‘Carpe Diem’, ‘Waiting for Spring’, ’Apathy’, ‘Connection’, ‘If I was a (opposite gender)’, ‘If I had known’, and ‘Tomorrow I will’, Among many others. It was a fantastic ice-breaker! After a lovely lunch, we separated into groups according to topics we wanted to discuss and present on at the conference the next day. These topics were: school, mental health, sexual health, addictions (drugs, tobacco, and alcohol), rights for minors, new technology and global journal. Scott and I participated in the mental health, and school presentations.   Scott:  The language barriers caused a great deal of stress—however, they also drove many to work extremely hard in preparation for speaking in front of over 300 health professionals. They had the opposite effect on me—I worried that I might over-prepare and hence not be able to perform organically, so I spent the day attending workshops and presentations as a form of light preparation. In what felt like no time at all the clock had mystically found its way to 4:00 pm—presentation time—and the first three rows of the auditorium were filled with 26 youths. All were giddy with excitement, gleefully sharing whatever felt funny at the time. Laughter was a welcome release within the group and nervous tension was at a low.

After hours of discussion and internal thoughts, all eight groups were ready to present their final thoughts to a group of well-respected health professionals. Despite language barriers, we managed to do it: cohesively form a structured presentation that was (by all expectations) meant to be an amalgamation of disjointed thoughts. School was the first theme, a group both myself and Jemma were presenting with. We imparted our message theatrically, much to the appreciation of the amused adults, who seemed to enjoy the new format of presentation after a very long day. (I’d like to claim this as my shining moment for the day, introducing myself by announcing ‘I do not like school!’ in less-than-fantastic French, instantly marking me as a foreigner—oh well! They applauded my efforts.) Each presenter offered a pro and a con of their schooling experience. Our second presentation on mental health was rather different to our last, as we focused on assessing a case study. Jemma courageously offered her personal story of psychosocial evaluation and treatment in this presentation; I felt privileged to be sitting next to her through every word, she is a true inspiration who did the program and the Royal Children’s Hospital very proud. The mood never dulled in the amphitheater, as events concluded with all youths on stage, answering questions and discussing statements from the enthusiastic crowd. I’d love to offer a congratulations and a thank you to all who attended and also to the Royal Children’s Hospital for making this possible.

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Keep an eye out for further updates from Meagan, Jane, Elle, Scott and Jemma as the International Association of Adolescent Health European Congress continues.