One
of the projects I have been working on here is sex education and HIV/AIDS
awareness. In East Africa HIV/AIDS is a
huge problem. In some countries on that
side of the continent, as many as 40% of the population are infected. Here in West Africa the infection rate is not
so high, but it is still about twice as high as in the US. Education about how to avoid HIV and other
sexually transmitted diseases is one of the priorities for Peace Corps
volunteers everywhere in the world.
I
knew I would be doing HIV/AIDS prevention activities when I got my invitation
to be a Peace Corps volunteer and I was not sure how comfortable I would be as
a sex educator. When I was teaching Introductory Psychology, I used to blush
just explaining the ideas of Sigmund Freud! After two years of talking about
it, I am quite comfortable discussing it in French. We will see if that transfers to English in
America.
One
of the projects I have been doing, both this year and last year, is to provide informational
sessions outside of the regular school schedule for students in the equivalent
of 6th grade, and to all levels of Junior High and High School here
in my town. There is a woman who works at the maternity center who helps me
with the sessions for the girls and a man from the health service who helps me
with sessions for the boys. I tell the
students something in my hard to understand French (poor vocabulary and strange
American accent) and my friends repeat the ideas in French with a Burkinabè
accent that many of the students can understand, and then again in Moore, the
local language that children learn at home.
The
discussion of sex is pretty much taboo in African culture and it is a hard
topic for parents to bring up. I have
invited parents to attend the sessions in the primary schools, partly so they
will know what we are telling their children, and partly to help them open the
conversation with their children at home.
Unfortunately, not very many of the parents accepted the
invitation.
Almost all of the students in the 6th grade in each primary school did come to the meetings and were very interested. In the junior high and high schools a smaller per cent of the students attended, but those who did come were very interested in the information we had to share and they had many questions. The basics of human biology are not part of the regulars school curriculum until 10th grade, so many students were glad to learn about their own bodies and how girls get pregnant. Unplanned pregnancy is one of the reasons people cite for there being so many fewer girls in high school than boys. Helping girls understand the risks of early sexual activity is how this fits into Girls Education and Empowerment. But I feel it is also important for the boys to understand the risks and how to protect themselves and their partners if they do decide to be sexually active. It takes two to make a baby!
In
keeping with Peace Corps policy, we did discuss abstinence before marriage and
fidelity after marriage as the only sure way to avoid sexually transmitted
diseases and unwanted pregnancy. Given the problem with unplanned pregnancies,
however, it was also important to explain the importance of using protection if
you do have sexual relations. I did a
demonstration about how to use a condom, and showed students that, even though
condoms are pretty strong, it is possible to break them. We also stressed the importance of putting
used condoms in the latrine so the kids would not play with them and possibly
contract HIV that way.
Joining the world fight against AIDS
Another
AIDS awareness project I worked on here was suppose to take place on World AIDS
Day, December 1. Because of delay in
funding for the project I did not get the materials needed until February, and
I wanted to do it when another AIDS activity was going on at the school. That activity never materialized so I decided
it was time to just do my project. This
idea was to get students to think about avoiding HIV/AIDS and to make a pledge
to live a safe and healthy life style.
The
project consisted of making a mural or sign about AIDS in a public place. To do this I talked to the principal of the
school and he thought it was a good idea.
We selected one wall of the library building. First we had to paint it white so that the
slogan would be easy to read. I started
to paint it myself, but boys came along and wanted to help. I ended up sitting in a chair in the shade,
supervising. I felt a bit like Tom
Sawyer, although I did not charge them for the privilege of helping.
The
wall did not look so great after one coat, so I invested in a second bucket of
paint and another group of boys helped with that. Here is our nice white space on which to
write the message.
I
asked one of the boys who had done a really good job with the white paint if he
would help me paint the slogan. We
agreed to meet at the school on Saturday morning at 8:00. The Librarian met me there and we got out all
the supplies, but my boy did not show up.
His friend was there and assured me he was coming, but that his parents
had sent him to the market for something but he would be here right away. By 8:45 he had not appeared so I left his
friend in charge of the paint and ladder and went to a wedding I had promised
to attend. On Sunday I passed the school
after church, not expecting to see anything on the wall, but this is what I
saw.
It
is not exactly what I had in mind. I
gave the boys a drawing with the bottom half of the wall blank, as a place
where students would make a paint hand print to show they had pledged to live a
healthy life style, but what was done was done and I was not about to start
over. The slogan translates roughly to "The students of this High School
say NO to HIV/AIDS
Last Tuesday afternoon, when there were no classes scheduled, we invited the students to take a pledge to live a healthy and safe life style and to protect themselves and their partners from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. After taking the pledge students could put on a latex glove, put their hands in black paint, and put a hand print of the wall. To facilitate cleanup I bought a box of latex gloves and had students put one of their hand before dipping it in the paint
Here
are the two boys who painted the slogan being the first to put their make on
it.
Here
is is, after about 50 students had made their pledge.
After they put their hand print on the wall, they could try to answer a question about HIV/AIDS. The man who is the librarian at the school also works with a group for AIDS prevention and helped me with the question and answer part of the project. If a student just attempted to answer a question, the won a condom. If they gave the correct answer, they won three. I have received many comments about the wall from teachers at the school. I commented it was not exactly what I had in mind, but one teacher said, "It is good the way it is. It is clear that it was made by the students and not something an adult put up." I think he is right. Another commented that it would be a nice way to remember my time here in the town. I think that is the only material thing I have done that will cause people to remember me, except for my project to repair a village pump, which I will tell you about next time.
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