Educational tours

IAS – the International AIDS Society – with civil society partners and local community-based organizations in Montreal, has organized seven educational tours for conference delegates. The goal is to exchange knowledge, best practices, successes, challenges and innovative solutions through dialogue and hands-on activities.

Tours are in English and are available to conference delegates at no cost.

Registration will take place on a first-come, first-served basis. Tours are limited to one per delegate. As demand for the tours is high, we cannot guarantee space for all interested delegates. 

The tours will take place from Friday, 29 July, until Monday, 1 August. Participants will use public transport to reach the organizations, and the IAS will organize this transport and cover the costs. Participants will meet in the conference venue. IAS staff and local community members will accompany participants throughout the tours.

If you have questions regarding the educational tours please contact [email protected]

Demonstrating the power of community alliances: The example of TOMS, PVSQ and CAPAHC

Friday, 29 July 2022, at 13:00
FULLY BOOKED

CAPAHC, PVSQ and TOMS will present their services and projects, which they carry out in partnership in Quebec. The organizations frequently work together, combining their expertise to raise awareness and increase knowledge of hepatitis C and HIV with community participation and to guide practices and advocate on behalf of people affected by sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs). They will offer an overview of their educational projects and community-based data collection, particularly concerning HIV and substance use, as well as present a consultation and needs-mapping initiative for populations most vulnerable to hepatitis C.

Tour schedule:

Friday, 29 July 2022, at 13:00

The tour lasts for two hours and starts from the Palais des congrès de Montréal.

Maximum number of participants:
20

Centre associatif polyvalent d’aide hepatitis C (CAPAHC) was founded by its current director in 2003 and has become a leading resource in Quebec for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV. The organization offers support to people living with or affected by hepatitis C and their families. It promotes overall health in the community through familiarization with HCV and related diseases and offers information, awareness, advocacy and education programmes.

www.capahc.com


Table des organismes communautaires montréalais de lutte contre le SIDA (TOMS) aims to support its members and the communities they represent, promoting their activities and defending their interests. TOMS brings together 31 community organizations that work to prevent HIV and STBBIs, promote global health and wellness, and provide housing and support for people living with HIV and other STBBIs and their families.

www.toms-mtl.org


Le Portail VIH/sida du Québec (PVSQ) is a provincial non-profit organization that provides information and support to all Quebecers about HIV and STBBIs. Its mission is rooted in public education, the production of reliable and verified information and the provision of empathetic support. As its name indicates, PVSQ is a gateway to the health and social services resources best suited to the people affected by HIV who contact it.

www.pvsq.org

“By and For” community organizations: Sex workers and drug users doing it for ourselves!

Friday, 29 July 2022, at 15:00
FULLY BOOKED

This tour offers delegates an intimate look into spaces and organizations created and run by and for communities of sex workers, trans people and drug users. Focusing on the roots of what has been named “peer education”, it will be hosted by Stella, l’amie de Maimie, ASTTeQ and AQPSUD. The tour will highlight organizational and intervention approaches based on “by and for” philosophies and practices, and explore histories of how communities build power and collective responses to fight for their rights in the face of criminalization of sex work, drug use and HIV non-disclosure. Participants will also be given gifts of sex worker documentation and other goodies created by the community. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions. The tour will take place at Stella, l’amie de Maimie.

Tour schedule:

Friday, 29 July 2022, at 15:00 

The tour lasts for two hours and starts from the Palais des congrès de Montréal.

Maximum number of participants:
15

Stella, l’amie de Maimie is a community-based organization by and for sex workers. Its goal is to improve sex workers’ quality of life, working conditions and capacity to live and work safely and with dignity. It does this through service provision, advocacy and protection of rights, empowerment and creation of a space and opportunities to exchange with other sex workers. Stella provides outreach and education for sex workers, service providers and medical, legal and social professionals. It mobilizes sex workers into action and networks with sex workers and allies across Canada.

www.chezstella.org


ASTT(e)Q aims to promote the health and well-being of trans people through peer support and advocacy, education and outreach, and community empowerment and mobilization. It understands that the health of trans people and communities is interrelated with economic and social inequalities, which have resulted in disproportionate rates of poverty, un(der)employment, precarious housing, criminalization and violence. It believes in the right to self-determine gender identity and gender expression free from coercion, violence and discrimination. ASTT(e)Q advocates for access to healthcare that will meet the many needs of its diverse communities while working collectively to build supportive, healthy and resilient communities.

www.astteq.org


The provincial Quebec Association for the Promotion of the Health of Drug Users (AQPSUD) brings together people who use drugs and aspires to the promotion of health, the prevention of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections and the improvement of living conditions. It does this in alignment with the philosophy of harm reduction and from an empowerment perspective. AQPSUD produces prevention tools and is also the community organization responsible for the proper management of L’Injecteur and ADDICQ (the association for the defence of rights and the inclusion of people who use drugs in Quebec).

www.aqpsud.org

Harm reduction on wheels

Friday, 29 July 2022, at 16:00
FULLY BOOKED

Friday, 29 July 2022, at 16:30
FULLY BOOKED

In line with L’Anonyme’s core philosophy, the outreach intervention programme runs two mobile units in different boroughs in Montreal. A bus distributes and retrieves harm reduction supplies with the aim of preventing sexually transmitted blood-borne infections (STBBIs) and overdoses. The mobile safe injection service, meanwhile, offers a safe space for people who inject drugs. L’Anonyme will open the doors of one of its mobile units so that visitors can view it.

Tour schedule:

Friday, 29 July 2022, at 16:00

And

Friday, 29 July 2022, at 16:30

Each tour lasts for 30 minutes and takes place at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.

Maximum number of participants:
10 (per tour)

L’Anonyme promotes safe behaviour and egalitarian relationships, as well as prevention of transmission of STBBIs, with an outreach, humanist approach. The team works closely with communities through four means: outreach intervention, sex education, urban security and housing.

www.anonyme.ca

JJ Levine: Queer photographs

Saturday, 30 July 2022, at 13:00 
FULLY BOOKED

This exhibition places the spotlight on a selection of works from JJ Levine’s major photographic projects: Queer Portraits, Alone Time and Switch. Levine’s photography calls traditional binary roles into question through images of queer subjects in the intimacy of domestic settings. Through an analysis of JJ Levine’s work, the guided tour provides insights into the life of this Montreal artist, his practice and artistic approach and intimate portrait art. Engaging with JJ Levine’s photographs, participants will be invited to reflect on gender roles and gender expression.

Tour schedule:

Saturday, 30 July 2022, at 13:00

The tour lasts for two hours and starts from the Palais des congrès de Montréal.

Maximum number of participants:
15

The McCord Museum celebrates past and present life in Montreal: its history, people and communities. The museum holds exciting exhibitions, educational programming and cultural activities that offer a contemporary perspective on history, engaging visitors from Montreal and beyond. It is home to over 1.5 million artefacts, making up one of the largest historical collections in North America. It covers dress, fashion and textiles, photography, Indigenous cultures, paintings, prints and drawings, material culture and textual archives.

https://www.musee-mccord.qc.ca/en/

The McCord Museum offers all delegates at the 24th International AIDS Conference a 15% discount to access the museum. Use the code, AIDS2022. The promo code is available until 1 September 2022.

A mosaic of lives

Sunday, 31 July 2022, at 13:00  
FULLY BOOKED

The visit to La Maison d’Hérelle will start with a guided tour, with visuals, to showcase the organization’s four housing environments, its teams, how it operates from admission to relocation and its future projects and goals. The organization will also present highlights of ongoing research taking place at la Maison d’Hérelle. Interviews with residents, employees and partners reveal the diversity of their experiences. Their stories allow the organization to measure the fruits of the specific approach developed by la Maison d’Hérelle over 30 years. This mosaic of perspectives at la Maison d’Hérelle reveals both its strengths and its challenges, beyond the issue of HIV and around one of its central values: welcoming the excluded. The visit will conclude with a discussion in our urban garden with members of staff, residents. Guests will be offered snacks and drinks.

Tour schedule:

Sunday, 31 July 2022, at 13:00

The tour lasts for two hours and starts from the Palais des congrès de Montréal.

Maximum number of participants:
10

La Maison d’Hérelle is a non-profit organization that has been working with people living with HIV for over 30 years. It is located in the Plateau-Mont-Royal district. Its mission is to provide a living environment, care and support for people living with HIV from a global health perspective and in alignment with the public and community networks of the health and social services system.

www.maisondherelle.org

HIV support and prevention: Discover how three Montreal community organizations make a difference

Monday, 1 August 2022, at 13:00
FULLY BOOKED

ACCM, RÉZO, and RSSSQ invite AIDS 2022 delegates to discover our intervention spaces, programs, campaigns, employees and volunteers, in a friendly and dynamic atmosphere spiced up with a few Montreal surprises.

Tour schedule:

Monday, 1 August 2022, at 13:00

The tour lasts for two hours and starts from the Palais des congrès de Montréal.

Maximum number of participants:
15

The mission of the Réseau de la Santé Sexuelle des Sourds du Québec (RSSSQ) is to:

  • Inform and warn the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in Quebec about the risks of contracting HIV and sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs).
  • Provide services and activities for deaf and hard-of-hearing people living with HIV and STBBIs, as well as LGBTQ+, who use drugs and are homeless.
  • Respect the deaf person in their own culture, language and development.

www.rsssq.org


RÉZO Santé (RÉZO) is a non-profit community organization based in Montreal, which has offered services to gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, be they cis or trans, since 1991. The organization delivers services and activities rooted in HIV and STI prevention and the promotion of sexual, mental, physical and social health.

www.rezosante.org


AIDS Community Care Montréal (ACCM) is Quebec’s only English-language community organization that provides services for people living with HIV or hepatitis C. Their peer support, practical assistance and treatment information programmes aim to improve the quality of life of their members and encourage personal development. They also offer prevention services, based on a harm reduction philosophy, to communities disproportionately affected by HIV.

www.accmontreal.org

Also healing injustice

Monday, 1 August 2022, at 15:00
FULLY BOOKED

Delegates will be able to meet three Doctors of the World field workers: a harm reduction peer, a social worker and an Indigenous navigator. This will allow visitors to take a special moment with them to learn more about their work with people who experience many access-to-care barriers. Delegates will visit Doctors of the World’s offices in Montreal, its mobile clinic and its clinic for migrants.

Tour schedule:

Monday, 1 August 2022, at 15:00

The tour lasts for two hours and starts from the Palais des congrès de Montréal.

Maximum number of participants:
30

Doctors of the World is active in 73 countries. It is an independent international movement of untiring activists who care about, witness and support social change. Through its innovative medical programmes and evidence-based advocacy, it empowers excluded people and their communities to seek medical care while fighting for universal access to healthcare.

https://medecinsdumonde.ca/