A central commitment guiding group strategies is that young people need to work together to address the problems they face, like HIV/AIDS. The group initially consisted of 15 youth, and eventually grew to 22. The most recent information available indicates that there are now 5 members of the group (2 men and 3 women). In addition, a number of young people help out from time to time. The young participants were inspired to organise the group through volunteer efforts; volunteerism remains a means of gathering highly committed people to do HIV/AIDS-related prevention work. Members meet once per month to plan activities, which are designed to share updated information about HIV/AIDS and encourage participation by others. Sometimes, the group organises sporting events and competitions to communicate their message or recruit new volunteers.

Specifically, group activities have included launching a training programme to educate youth workers about AIDS; organising small group meetings, boards, and exhibitions; traveling from village to village to provide AIDS education using puppets and stage plays; organising radio programmes which were broadcast over village public address systems; and convening youth groups and initiating other activities aimed at raising public awareness about AIDS. These activities focus on providing information about AIDS, analysing risk-taking behaviour, changing attitudes towards AIDS, building the capacity of young people to negotiate for safe sexual contact, the correct use of condoms, safe sex, and the sexual differences between men, women, and transvestites.

The group has sought consistently to appeal to the interests of young people they are trying to reach. For example, as part of the radio programme "Friends of a Dream", Sang Fan Wan Mai discusses current issues affecting adolescents, such as schools, child rights, HIV/AIDS, and relationships. The show tries to relate these topics to the music that is being played. Many teenagers write in to the show with requests or suggestions for other activities by the group.

The group also attends to the specifics of each geographical community they visit. When they write scripts for puppet shows, they travel to the village where they are going to perform to find out about the current situation in the community. They interview people to assess their greatest worries regarding HIV/AIDS, drugs, or the environment. The group then meets to compile findings and put together a script. Their aim is to get more people to become interested in their activities and to carry out their own initiatives in the future. By engaging people, the group hopes that villagers will have something to do in their free time and will, in turn, be less likely to engage in other harmful activities. The group also tries to portray the risks of HIV/AIDS indirectly by discussing general social problems in the villages. This strategy is designed to help the villagers work together as a community, get to know each other, and be available to help each other.

In addition, the group has encouraged other young people to cooperate by contributing their ideas, becoming involved in the planning and implementation process, and helping draw conclusions from the initiatives that have been launched. Young people are encouraged to make a contribution to their own communities. For example, a youth council was established using local administrative structures.

HIV/AIDS, Youth, Health.

Group members met during training for volunteers as part of the "Rural Youth Free from Sexually Transmitted AIDS" implemented by CARE Thailand (Raks Thai Foundation). They were trained in the techniques of presenting hand puppet performances by experts in this art in order to help educate and inform large numbers of villagers about AIDS. They took the puppet show from village to village in an effort to warn young men and women about the dangers posed by promiscuous sexual behaviour and to inform them about the importance of using condoms. In 1996, some of these young people joined together to form The Sang Fan Wan Mai Group ("Build Dreams for a New Day Group").

The group won the first place in the Youth Puppet Show Competition held during the Non-Formal Education Day Festival in 1996.

The group is eager to share its experience with other youth groups or organisations.