INSIDE INSIDE && OUT OUT
BY MAYA POWE
Y
ou’d probably expect an average 14-year-old to be worrying about high school classes and keeping up with the latest fads. However, Chantal ‘Chani’ Christie is not your average teen. As the United States National Youth Ambassador on HIV/AIDS and the Washington D.C. YMCA Outreach Spokesperson, Christie’s attention is more focused on the education of her peers about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. “It’s about education to the youth,” says Christie. “Most schools don’t really talk about practicing safe sex. They talk about abstinence, ‘tsk tsk, don’t have sex’, but if you’re gonna have sex, I would prefer that you use a condom and you have safe sex. You can’t tell by the way somebody looks, so it’s out there for anybody to catch.” Though there are many major issues in the world, Christie focuses on HIV/AIDS because of its widespread consequences. “With drugs and poverty, most of those kids survive and get help. With HIV and AIDS, there is no stopping it as of now. Christie, who is the daughter of NBA star Doug Christie, also draws inspiration from her family. “My dad says, ‘a moment of pleasure can lead to a lifetime of pain’,” Christie cautions.
In educating others, Christie also learned more about the disease and it has affected her life in a major way. “I didn’t view AIDS and HIV as a big thing. I’m only 14. I knew it was a disease and it killed people, but not until I got this ambassadorship and truly started to educate myself did I see that 6000 youth a day are infected with this virus. So, it was heartbreaking.” Along with her role as ambassadorship and spokesperson, Christie also wishes to reach people through her music. With a new CD hitting the stores in June, she hopes her messages continue to educate. “I don’t really don’t have a target audience, maybe from 12 or 13 to 25, but my songs can touch anybody and they are family friendly. There’s not any cursing or anything. The messages in each song, whether it’s about relationships or anything else, can touch people any age.”
TRUESTAR MAGAZINE 31