Joy Lynn Alegarbes demonstrates proper insertion of a female condom at ICAAP9.

“You insert it into the vagina like this and then push it all the way back…”, said a distinctly female voice.   

Who was this woman whose clear voice enunciated each word with such authority?  Who was this woman who had such a commanding presence? And what was she inserting?!?   

 It was August 2009. I was attending  the International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP9) in Bali, Indonesia on a media scholarship and I had never seen so many condoms in my life, but this stopped dead in my tracks. I squeezed myself in between the huddle of photographers.   

In the middle of inflated different colored condoms arranged in a line standing at attention, was a woman demonstrating how to properly insert a female condom using a vaginal model.   

“When you’re done. You twist it around three times, pull it out of the vagina, wrap it in a tissue and dispose of it as you would a male condom.”   

Photographers clicked away throughout her demonstration, but asked her to indulge them and do another. She graciously obliged and did it all over again in exactly the same manner.   

I had to meet this woman who could demonstrate how to put on a female condom with such precision and panache.   

I waited until the small crowd had thinned and introduced myself.  The woman was Filipina-American Joy Lynn Alegarbes, the Global Director for Operations of The Condom Project.   

The Condom Project is present in 10 different countries and uses  innovative means like workshops and performance art in their mission to de-stigmatize condom use. Joy Lynn travels all over the world giving safer sex workshops and educating communities about how proper and consistent use of condoms can significantly lower the risk of HIV infection.  One of these unorthodoxed methods is The Condom Zone, where Joy Lynn had given her demonstration, and which could best be described as a feast for the eyes — it was like a condom candy store.   

“A primary focus of The Condom Project is to destigmatize condoms. But it is impossible to even begin a dialogue about the efficacy of condoms if people are not willing to say or even hear the word “condom”.  Even in groups made up of professionals in the HIV/AIDS field, there may be people who are uncomfortable with condoms.  We believe that condoms are for everyone!”, says Joy Lynn explaining the rationale of The Condom Zone.   

Joy Lynn in the 'zone' -- The Condom Zone where condoms of different colors and textures are displayed.

 To nuke this discomfort, Joy Lynn sets up  The Condom Zone. “This is where I can educate visitors about a variety of lubricants; I also have a display of condoms that are unrolled and inflated so that visitors can see different sizes, shapes, colors and textures available around the world.”.  

On becoming a sexual health advocate   

Being a sexual health advocate started way back in her college days at New York University (NYU). Joy Lynn traces what she calls her genesis to a Phallic Food Festival she attended during her freshman year.    

“It was a dinner of sexually suggestive foods — melons, hot dogs & buns, ice cream, cherries — followed by a safer sex workshop conducted by a another student from NYU’s Center for Health Promotion.” Joy Lynn recalls.   

“I felt so drawn to the format of gathering over food, asking honest questions and sharing clear & accurate information. It was dialogue that was so often stigmatized in other situations that I applied to become a Sexual Health Advocate.”   

She supplemented her training by joining the HIV/AIDS theater group of the American Red Cross in her community. Joy Lynn then began facilitating condom workshops about safer sex practices and the use of sex toys within her academic community.   

After graduation, Joy Lynn went on to work for Condomania, the first condom store in the US to offer a full range of condoms and safer sex products along with educational materials advocating their proper use.   

Adding to her knowledge with self-study, Joy Lynn developed Condomania’s outreach program about safer sex which grew to a national level. “My workshop started getting the attention of the likes of MTV, The Discovery Channel and Fox News.”, says Joy Lynn.   

When Joy Lynn joined The Condom Project in 2004, she began to conquer the world and hasn’t stopped since.   

Joy Lynn takes time in between travelling to Vienna where AIDS2010 will be held and filming her condom workshop in the 6 different UN languages to be the first ever Sex and Sensibilities guest blogger.   

Welcome, Joy Lynn! We’re proud to have a fellow-Filipina dishin’ out the SASs on a global level.      

By Ana Santos