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A pair of Gwinnett teenagers and hundreds of their peers from across the nation will gather in Nashville this weekend to carry on a legacy of courage and dignity.
AIDGwinnett peer educators Anica Leitch and Curtis Cotsonis, both 16, will attend the 12th Ryan White National Youth Conference on HIV and AIDS to hone their skills in helping curb the spread of the illness through knowledge and awareness.
The conference will take place at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel from Saturday to Monday.
The conference is named for Ryan White, an Indiana schoolboy who contracted HIV in 1984 at age 13 through treatments for hemophilia.
Ryan and his family became victims of fear and misinformation within the community that forced Ryan to leave his school and eventually caused the family to move.
Throughout the ordeal, Ryan spoke out nationally against those misconceptions and called for compassionate treatment for all AIDS sufferers. After waging a tenacious battle, Ryan died on April 8, 1990, at age 18.
This is the first time that AIDGwinnett has had the money to send teens to the annual conference, said Larry Lehman, the group's executive director. "This is something the agency has wanted to do for some time," he said.
Anica and Curtis were chosen because of their dedication and service to the program that trains teens to become peer educators, he said.
After training, the peer educators present HIV education workshops to their fellow teens.
AIDGwinnett trained 12 new peer educators this month, Lehman said.
Anica, a junior at Brookwood High School, already had a bent for helping others. She assisted her mother deliver Meals on Wheels for several years.
"Once I learned more about [the training program], I realized it was a great way to teach other teens valuable things and learn things myself," she said. "HIV is a growing issue, and the more we can do to teach others about it the more our community will benefit."
Curtis has been volunteering for four years, and became a peer educator about a year ago.
"Most of the people infected with AIDS are young," the Shiloh High School sophomore said. "So we need people their age they can connect with to tell them the dangers."
Both are excited to be able to attend the national event.
"It's a way we can learn more from other groups and bring more awareness --- and have some fun," Anica said.
"I'm going to be able to meet a lot of other kids like us, and learn more skills to more effectively teach my peers about HIV and AIDS," Curtis said.
Lehman couldn't contain his own excitement, either.
"It's like being a nervous father, sending two teens to an out-of-town conference," he said.
Anica and Curtis will be accompanied by AIDGwinnett staff members Trina Luckey and Allison Tucker. Both are prevention educators.
Anica is the daughter of Beth and Lee Leitch of Snellville. She has a brother, Curtis Leitch, 18. The family is hosting Swiss exchange student Livia Burckhardt, 16, who also is a peer educator.
Curtis is the son of Bonnie Cox and George Cotsonis of Snellville. > AIDGwinnett is at 725 Scenic Highway in Lawrenceville. The phone number is 770-962-8396.
Copyright 2005 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
