Lifenet's strategy is threefold. First, the group aims to build networks of support among young people at risk so that peers can redefine their subcultures to promote healthy behaviours instead of risky behaviors. Second, Lifenet encourages linkages between youth programmes and individuals with existing networks of organisations, based on the understanding that networks can help young people feel connected in ways that encourage them to protect themselves. Finally, Lifenet strives to overcome negative attitudes about youth by engaging local leaders and decision makers, such as teachers from the Teachers' Training College and staff of the local health promotion and disease prevention offices, in the programme.

A key premise of Lifenet is that mobilising decision makers helps ensure that youth will be treated with respect, that they receive reinforcing messages in school, and that the programme receives the support it needs to work in the community. Lifenet reaches out to young people who frequent entertainment establishments and who work as migrant construction workers. Because of Lifenet's understanding of how social networks impact risk-taking behaviour, peer-based education has been used to address behaviours in the contexts in which they occur.

Specifically, in the beginning of the project, Lifenet's outreach team visited entertainment establishments where youth spend time, and learned about the need for reproductive health information, family and adolescent counseling, and a safe place to gather among youth who frequented these establishments. Members of this team encountered problems of family abuse, neglect, low self-esteem, gender role confusion, and emotional problems among young people. After gaining a better understanding of the subcultures of the youth Lifenet hoped to reach, outreach workers built relationships with the management of discos, bars, and other nightspots and started conducting entertainment and education activities which included "disk jockeys" and key staff of these establishments. The outreach team also mapped youth networks and determined the relationships among youth in a given setting.

This interpersonal learning process allowed Lifenet to identify 30 "key leaders": youth who were at high-risk and who were influencing their friends to take risks. These youth leaders then were recruited and trained in life skills, such as problem solving, reasoning, and communication skills. They were also trained in network mobilisation strategies so that they could build support systems among their peers. The youth decided to name their group Cycle of Life, and they have developed a newsletter to address youth concerns such as relationship advice, health information, and future aspirations. Lifenet has since set up a drop-in centre where Cycle of Life members have access to a computer and other supplies to support their activities. A mobile phone hotline facilitated by one of the outreach workers provides counseling, support, and assistance in emergencies.

Lifenet organisers claim that by gathering to discuss their problems, Cycle of Life members and their peers have formed a support network within which they can discuss their problems. Organisers stress that these youth have come to realise that they are not "bad kids" for going to entertainment establishments. Now they are involved in social action to promote safe entertainment for young people. Cycle of Life is expanding its membership by recruiting friends from among other night-spot patrons. Within the first year of the project, the Cycle of Life network expanded to include 175 youth. To complement the peer programme, Lifenet also engaged Teachers' College teachers in a participatory learning process which introduced them to the perspectives and needs of young people and people with HIV/AIDS. The process, organisers say, resulted in a shared commitment by a small group of teachers to develop a sexuality education curriculum based on students' experiences and needs. The teachers then gained support from their network of teachers and from administrators. In its second year, the curriculum is being refined and expanded to two additional provinces.

Youth, HIV/AIDS, Health, Sex Education.

According to research cited by organisers, several studies have shown that as youth who come to Chiang Mai are freed from traditional mechanisms of control over sexual behaviour and have opportunities to expand friendships and relationships with other young people, exposure to HIV, unwanted pregnancies, and other reproductive health problems has increased. A study of these social networks found that (1) young people's risk behaviours occur in clusters of small groups of friends; (2) friendship groups significantly influence risk behaviours; and (3) "sexual bridging" occurs between categories of sexual identities, ethnic, occupational, and age groups. While this research finds "clear links" between young people's new-found freedom, entertainment, and alcohol and drug use with unsafe sex and accidents, Lifenet sought to understand what kind of a project intervention could affect the risks youth were taking.

Lifenet identifies the following lessons learned through the course of the project:

• Programmes that serve youth should use life-skills training and network mobilisation strategies that have been successful in the population being addressed.
• Links to health promotion centres, the department of social welfare, juvenile courts, secondary and tertiary educational institutions, and other governmental and nongovernmental organisations are important to programme success.
• Reproductive health education materials should be adapted into formats that are engaging and entertaining to youth, using language and terminology that youth understand.