Since the beginning of Fight the New Drug, we have called ourselves a grassroots movement. Our awareness campaign is focused on making a difference first in schools and cities, and then hopefully changing the entire world in the process. This is why we’re thrilled that Fight the New Drug International Presentations have helped reach so many. We take an all-consuming approach to raising awareness on the harmful effects of pornography in society, so in addition to constantly creating tools and resources for over 1.5 million amazing followers on social media to share, we also love getting face to face with people in their schools and cities to drop knowledge on this important issue.
While we have traveled internationally to give presentations, 2017 offered FTND a ton of new opportunities to go abroad and plant the seeds for this movement for love! Check out some awesome highlights from our trips to Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, Mexico, and Guatemala. If this year was any indication as to the amazing chances we’ll get to travel the world for the cause, we can’t wait for what’s to come!
Spain
This year, we were lucky enough to do a 4 presentation tour in this beautiful European country. Our Co-Founder and President Clay Olsen did awesome community events and school events in Barcelona that really inspired Fighters to take the movement and make it their own.
While there, Clay connected with inspirational and incredible Fighters who had amazing ideas for how to spread the facts and rep the movement in their home country. This trip also guaranteed that a few Spanish-speaking Fighters would soon become certified in FTND’s official Presenter Program so they could start traveling around the country, spreading the facts.
Taking the movement to Europe this year confirmed that FTND has the potential to make a huge impact with Fighters who are already there and ready to go. “The impact they are beginning to have in Spain is immeasurable,” Clay said, after he got back from this trip.
All-star Fighters in Spain: Ferran. This awesome Fighter from Barcelona (in the video above with his buddies) organized an exclusive, invite-only event for FTND and a select group of young adults. It was an incredible evening of brainstorming, collaborating, and discussing how to make this movement for love famous in Spain. And while this event was wildly successful, the best part of the evening was Spanish-speaking Fighters stepping up and agreeing to help translate FTND materials, as well as agreeing to become official ambassadors and presenters for FTND.
Trinidad & Tobago
At a conference in Trinidad, Clay was invited to speak alongside other researchers and activists in the fields of pornography, neuroscience, and psychology. The speaker list included experts like neurosurgeon and researcher Dr. Don Hilton, Executive Director Dawn Hawkins from the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, Dr. Mary Ann Layden from the Center for Cognitive Therapy, and other experts from Jamaica.
The conference centered around the harms of porn in society, and it was an incredible opportunity for FTND to share the movement with youth from all over South America!
All-star Fighters in Trinidad & Tobago: Jerome, pictured above. He shared his personal story at this huge conference, and wowed the crowd with his passion for the fight. Afterwards, this Trinidad native loved meeting with Clay at the conference so much, he started presenting for FTND in his home country and became an official FTND Ambassador and Presenter. As the first international Fighter to become so, he has made a huge impact on schools and communities in Trinidad & Tobago, and continues to make the movement famous in South America!
Mexico
This year, FTND had the privilege of visiting Mexico three times. In both instances, we spoke to a variety of different schools and community organizations, in Colonial Juarez and Queretaro.
The hundreds of parents, school counselors, religious leaders, and administrators that Clay presented to were all very on board and excited to make something happen in their communities—and ultimately their country. We’re seeing huge waves of change already starting! And not only is Mexico hungry for information, education, awareness, and change, but they definitely have the youth there that will drive it.
According to Clay, “The people there were incredibly nice and hospitable, very patient with my Spanish, and very accommodating to any sort of language barrier.”
“Mexico was a beautiful place with beautiful people,” Clay said of his trips to the country. “I think what’s interesting is you learn that their challenges with porn are very similar to ours in the States. It doesn’t matter where you go… Pornography isn’t just impacting a community or a culture, but a generation. Borders, languages, cultures, and even ages don’t really come into that equation.”
All-star Fighters in Mexico: The youth community in Mexico are all stoked to share the movement. Their parents are even on board, too! When Clay couldn’t translate the neuroscience portion of the presentation, there were translators there who were excited to help out. And the best part of visiting Mexico was Clay’s realization that the grassroots community of youth who were making this cause their own had the passion it takes to drive this movement in their country. How awesome is that?
Guatemala
What a fantastic, breathtaking country that FTND got to visit!
Several local groups organized a 12-presentation tour for Clay to come speak at, happening in schools all over the capital in Guatemala City. Each school and presentation gave an incredible response! And if 4 high-energy and interactive presentations a day for 3 days straight wasn’t challenging enough for Clay, he got incredibly sick right after the first presentation. With no voice, and a sore throat, the Guatemalan community came together and looked after Clay with incredible love and care.
When reflecting on his tour trip, Clay said, “It’s so constant, every presentation kids came up and said how they’ve struggled with porn, and how they want to make a difference. It isn’t unique to one place. Youth everywhere express how grateful they are for this kind of a movement—for the opportunity to express their concerns with the current culture, and their challenges and struggles with this issue. The fact they’re able to open up and be more vocal about it and be a part of the solution, is so inspiring.”
We can’t wait to be back to share the movement even further with this amazing community of people!
All-star Fighters in Guatemala: Too many to count! This presentation tour took an entire team to make it happen, and we couldn’t have pulled it off without them. Another stand out from the trip was Diego. This Guatemala City native was one of the volunteers for the entire tour, and he’s now becoming certified as an official Presenter for FTND! Diego hosted an exclusive, invite-only gathering of influencers while Clay was in the country, and over 30 young adults showed up who want to bring the movement to Guatemala. And Diego isn’t the only one training to become a presenter—a core group of influential Fighters in Guatemala have also taken up the challenge to become certified. So cool.
Onto The Rest of the World
How awesome are these presentation stories? And that’s not even all of them. Not listed here were our presentations in Canada, Tanzania, and in dozens of states in the United States.
But no matter where we presented this year, whether in Spain or Latin America, it was continually clear that pornography is an issue that is impacting our generation and the generations to come. Everywhere we presented, youth expressed how they want something better for themselves; they want to move in a more healthy direction and be a real Fighter.
As our influence grows around the world, so will our opportunities to visit other countries and spread this message of hope and love to youth and communities everywhere. If you want us to come visit your community or country, tell us!
Simply fill out the form on this page, and we’ll be in touch. See you soon, Fighters!
What YOU Can Do
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