Busy, busy

The past two weeks have been super busy.

One week I went to a Youth Friendly training workshop. Parika Health Center will be turning into a youth friendly center (YFC), so we had a workshop on how a YFC operates and some of its challenges. The training was excellent. There was one activity in particular that really made the whole thing worth while. The facilitator spilt us up into 4 groups. Each group had to decide how they would run a YFC because the next day 5 youths would be visiting our YFCs. While one group was going the other 3 groups would be watching and taking notes in order to provide feedback later.

In reality, the "youths" were young actors who are a part of a group called Artists In Direct Support (AIDS). The same 5 actors visited each YFC, but they changed their characters each time.

For example, in my group (#3) we had two teachers wanting some information on oral sex. They also wanted to know if they could find out information about students' status. Another actor was gay, and when he joined the discussion on oral sex and confidentiality, the teachers wanted him removed. I actually had to deal with this situation. I answered their questions about oral sex accurately. And as far as revealing test results I was very firm about the rules on confidentiality.

Also, a lesbian couple came in wanting to know how they could get pregnant. The counselor they talked to was very religious and she had never met a gay person before. Her reaction was unwelcoming - not in an overt manner, but just disapproving enough that the lesbian couple could pick up on it. They started to yell at her and make a scene. At the end the counselor cried.

Now if that sounds scary, you should have seen the other scenarios. Anyway, some of important lessons learned included:
1. Self-awareness--knowing your limitations and your biases.
2. Being courteous and not losing your cool is important. Having control of yourself will help control the situation.
3. You have to be flexible because your planned activity might not go according to plan.
4. You have to learn to discern between people's words and actions to find out the real problem.

The weekend after the YFC training was the PCV pot -luck thanksgiving dinner. We had it in Georgetown at Tessa's house. Nigel and I made mashed potatoes, which were really good by the way. The secret ingredient was cream cheese. We didn't have turkey, but we had all the other thanksgiving goodies. The next day Nigel and I went to the zoo. We thought we were going to see a boa constrictor eat a chicken, but I was gravely disappointed. But don't worry the whole day wasn't ruined. I was completely fascinated with the Harpy eagle. It's grandiose; I wish I could have seen it fly. We also saw the biggest mammal in South America--the tapir. Its nickname is the bush cow, but it doesn't look at all like a cow. It has a long snout like an anteater, and it's short but wide. The most interesting thing about this animal was the male tapir and...well...its penis. First of all the penis is very large and noticeable. But the thing that was really interesting was that when it's elongated, it touches the ground and looks like a third leg. And, the end is strangely shaped like a flower. It made me curious about the mating process. My other favorite animals were the monkeys. Because their movements and actions are so human like, I can't take my eyes off them. I think we spent the longest time admiring these animals.

Finally, I spent last week at another workshop about Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in relation to HIV. This was a good workshop too, but I missed the first day where they talked about what an OVC is. The second day we talked about stigma and discrimination. The final day was focused on coming up with different strategies that we could use in our own communities to address the issue. I brought a woman who works with children through her church. Now, I need to work with her on what we’ll do specifically in Parika.

Whew…not only was I exhausted from all the traveling, I’m exhausted from writing it all down.