
Sexucation (coming soon)

Emani had noticed that, among her peers, information on sex, STIs and HIV was being shared mostly through stigmatizing
rumors. She grew frustrated—Emani’s uncle, who lived with HIV, had recently passed away. “He chose not to let this disease defeat him,” she says. Determined to change the narrative (and excited to exercise her coding skills), Emani developed the self-guided app Sexucation, which provides interactive learning modules and quizzes, and encourages young people to engage with their peers in constructive discussion forums. “Things like HIV can make a person really fearful—but you can live a normal life with HIV.” Through education, she believes, it’s possible to take control of the narrative, defeat stigma and empower young people to live as their full selves.
As a L.I.Y.T Scholar, Emani has gained confidence in herself and is grateful to Project L.I.Y.T for giving her space to experiment, make mistakes and grow. “I feel joyful,” she says. “We’re young and we have the space to be innovative.” She’s
actively searching for ways to grow her app as well as vet and design content with her community and peers. She wants the content to be as factual as possible and representative of the diverse young people it engages. She’s also determined to learn more about application development, financing similar projects and promoting solutions like Sexucation.
Ultimately, Emani hopes that the app will help individuals affected by HIV to define their own experience. “Hopefully a person who reads [the app] can create their own perspective.”
Illustrations provided by Farah Jeune, artist and creator/producer/host of Farenheight TV.