During the training, we've all been sharing our experiences reporting in our respective countries. Powerful stories. They remind me of the daunting (and sometimes life-threatening) risks journalists around the world must face ... just to do their job.

Zofeen Ebrahim, a reporter from Pakistan, explained the challenge of finding people (affected citizens and officials) to talk about HIV because so many people in her country don't want to acknowledge the existence of pre-marital sex. Zofeen said just starting the conversation is often impossible.

Ingrid Brown, a newspaper writer from Jamaica, said her country's growing Rastafarian community doesn't believe in using condoms, which means sharing HIV prevention information could turn many of her readers away.

And a radio journalist from Afghanistan told me he had to flee his country after receiving repeated threats from tribal leaders he had written about. Not an uncommon experience, he said. In fact, he asked to remain anonymous for fear that telling his story would have repercussions on his colleagues still reporting in his home country.

Stories from the world's soldiers of information.

More to come. For the next couple of weeks, I'll be blogging from the conference, the world's largest gathering focused on the HIV/AIDS global health crisis. Twenty-five thousand delegates, hundreds of public heath leaders and scientists are expected to attend.

Stay tuned to the TMM blog.