Launched in 2006, The HERO Youth Ambassador Program was developed to provide comprehensive school-based support to orphans and vulnerable children living in HIV/AIDS-affected African communities.

This past summer, twenty-four teens from across the U.S.A. were selected to become Youth Ambassadors and traveled to Namibia and South Africa to work on Protecting Futures, a program by Tampax and Always to improve school facilities and educational programs as well as providing resources to help girls in Southern Africa maintain school attendance during menstruation.

For more information on the program, you can visit Protecting Futures (has sound).

The personal experiences of the Youth Ambassadors were documented in a series of webisodes airing on beinggirl.com (has sound) to help encourage and empower all teens to become global citizens.

You can also find the webisodes on You Tube.

Beginning December 1, 2007, students can apply to become a 2008 Youth Ambassador on Beinggirl.com.