Deuteronomy 31:8
Friday, June 1, 2012
VCT Event
For those of you who don't know VCT stands for Voluntary Counselling and Testing so that one can know his or her HIV status. I just found out from one of my bosses from Peace Corps that only about 20% of the Zambian population actually knows their status, which is really scary considering there is such a high HIV prevalence rate here.
In Misengo village we have people that are trained to test someone whenever they want, but not many villagers take this opportunity because of many fears. They fear the lack of confidentiality shown by clinic staff, who will more than likely tell anyone who will listen what so and so's HIV status was (there is no HIPPA here that's for sure!). Secondly they fear even the stigma they will face just going to ask to be tested. To ask that is not commended by their peers as a smart choice so that they can be healthy, instead it is seen as a way to show that you have sex...lots and lots of sex. With a lot of different people. In my time in Misengo I have worked to dispel this myth of getting tested = promiscuous, but I wanted to do it on a bigger scale so I decided a VCT day would be best.
I planned it for the end May because the rains have stopped and also we have a influx of people due to traders coming to stay in my village to by and sell beans, and this calls for education because a lot of times these beans are traded for sex because the women have no other way of paying for them. I also wanted it to be on a Sunday because that is when the most people from surrounding villages come to Misengo to go to church, buy veg from the market, and watch football. So in March I began the long process of writing a grant which was probably the hardest part of the whole event.
I teamed up with ZANIS, part of the Ministry of Communication, who came out on Saturday 26th May around 1400 and drove around advertising the weekends events. That night starting at about 1830, they set up a projector at the football pitch and played movies in Bemba talking about topics like HIV stigma, getting tested, early marriages, as well as just entertaining movies to a crowd of about 500 until 2300. And some of those Zambians are strong...I went to bed at 2100 because I was cold by those in just a t shirt and shorts lasted until the end!
The following morning after they set up a sound system and began the main VCT event. I arranged testers to come from the District AIDS Task Force of Kasama to come and do the testing to decrease peoples fears of confidentiality. They arrived at 1100 and began testing. Each person that was tested got a ribbon to wear and their name entered into a raffle for a prize. As people were getting tested music played, drama sketches were performed, speeches were made and a lot of HIV questions were answered. Later in the afternoon we had the final games of netball and football of the tournament that started the beginning of May. The winning teams received a ball and whistle and second place got a case of drinks. I found the games the most trying part of the day because several members of one of the football (aka soccer) teams refused to play because they thought that drinks were not enough for second place and wanted me to give them money instead. I explained that I would not be giving money because I knew that they would just spend it on beer, which I refused to support. But other than that everything else that day went smoother than I imagined.
I myself got tested to show that I not only talk the talk, but walk the walk as well. I hate having my finger pricked so I was not looking forward to it, but in the end I am glad that I did it so that I can proudly say I know my status!
Overall it was a really successful day! We had 128 people tested which is really something to be happy about!!
Friday, March 2, 2012
What is Normal?
One thing I have been learning that here there is no such thing as a typical day or week. On one Tuesday I can sit in the house reading all day without a care in the world and the following Tuesday it seems like I am in crisis control mode.
Over the last couple of weeks I have been thrown situations I never really anticipated finding myself in. First, on one Wednesday evening I heard a ruckus coming from the three grade 9 girls that live next to me. After investigating no one was really able to tell what started the fight. Then about 30 minutes after returning home the drama erupted all over again with a new development...this time a female teacher came and started beating one of the girls and calling another all sorts of names and accused her of "dating" her husband. Now that accusation is serious and one that would be illegal if it was true so dealing with the matter by going to the pupil (who is just 17 years old) was totally inappropriate. So after consulting the girls for their permission, I went the following morning and reported this teacher's behavior to the headmaster who was deeply embarrassed by her actions. And the really unfortunate part is that this was the teacher that I brought to my GLOW Camp in December and who was supposed to be a role model to the girls. I have since ceased having her work on the girls club and will begin with a new teacher next term.
So that was one atypical event. The next was that I became an unexpected caregiver. My other neighbor is a woman who has two boys aged 7 and 9. I love them all and we are very neighborly with one another where we lend each other things like salt or beans and she looks after my dog when I am away from site for awhile. On Tuesday her younger son was at my house in the morning and was feeling fine, but by around 1500 he started crying and complaining of stomach pains and a headache. Our clinic was closed so I just tried to comfort him as much as possible until his mom returned from farming that evening. The following morning around 0700 he returned to my house again crying of the same pains. When I asked where was his mom he said she left to go farming. And let me just say I had no way of contacting her. We have no network for phones and her farm is about an hour walk away. So I found myself with a sick child...again. I took him to the clinic (this has now been the third time in my service that I have been the one to take him there). After doing the test it turns out he had malaria again. This is his third round of malaria since I came to Misengo. His last one was just last month. So after he was given his medicine we went home to my house and I made us some potatoes while he laid and attempted sleeping in the insaka. Thankfully his mom returned about noon because it broke my heart to watch him cry and in so much pain without the one thing he wanted most-ba mommy.
The clinic worker told me that she talked to his mother later that day and told her to take more responsibility with her children and not to be depending on me to take care of them for her. I was glad she did because it was getting to be too much to suddenly become the caregiver for a sick 7 year old who you cant even really communicate with.
The following day my bicycle broke down as I was returning from teaching about HIV to a women's group about 14km from my house. And when I say broke I mean BROKE. The last km or so I pushed the bicycle through the mud and up a hill with the rear wheel not turning at all. I guess it may be the axle? We'll see I guess!
So like I said there is no such thing as typical. This is no 9-5 job, which sometimes is great, but then some days there is nothing more I want than a normal routine.
Over the last couple of weeks I have been thrown situations I never really anticipated finding myself in. First, on one Wednesday evening I heard a ruckus coming from the three grade 9 girls that live next to me. After investigating no one was really able to tell what started the fight. Then about 30 minutes after returning home the drama erupted all over again with a new development...this time a female teacher came and started beating one of the girls and calling another all sorts of names and accused her of "dating" her husband. Now that accusation is serious and one that would be illegal if it was true so dealing with the matter by going to the pupil (who is just 17 years old) was totally inappropriate. So after consulting the girls for their permission, I went the following morning and reported this teacher's behavior to the headmaster who was deeply embarrassed by her actions. And the really unfortunate part is that this was the teacher that I brought to my GLOW Camp in December and who was supposed to be a role model to the girls. I have since ceased having her work on the girls club and will begin with a new teacher next term.
So that was one atypical event. The next was that I became an unexpected caregiver. My other neighbor is a woman who has two boys aged 7 and 9. I love them all and we are very neighborly with one another where we lend each other things like salt or beans and she looks after my dog when I am away from site for awhile. On Tuesday her younger son was at my house in the morning and was feeling fine, but by around 1500 he started crying and complaining of stomach pains and a headache. Our clinic was closed so I just tried to comfort him as much as possible until his mom returned from farming that evening. The following morning around 0700 he returned to my house again crying of the same pains. When I asked where was his mom he said she left to go farming. And let me just say I had no way of contacting her. We have no network for phones and her farm is about an hour walk away. So I found myself with a sick child...again. I took him to the clinic (this has now been the third time in my service that I have been the one to take him there). After doing the test it turns out he had malaria again. This is his third round of malaria since I came to Misengo. His last one was just last month. So after he was given his medicine we went home to my house and I made us some potatoes while he laid and attempted sleeping in the insaka. Thankfully his mom returned about noon because it broke my heart to watch him cry and in so much pain without the one thing he wanted most-ba mommy.
The clinic worker told me that she talked to his mother later that day and told her to take more responsibility with her children and not to be depending on me to take care of them for her. I was glad she did because it was getting to be too much to suddenly become the caregiver for a sick 7 year old who you cant even really communicate with.
The following day my bicycle broke down as I was returning from teaching about HIV to a women's group about 14km from my house. And when I say broke I mean BROKE. The last km or so I pushed the bicycle through the mud and up a hill with the rear wheel not turning at all. I guess it may be the axle? We'll see I guess!
So like I said there is no such thing as typical. This is no 9-5 job, which sometimes is great, but then some days there is nothing more I want than a normal routine.
Friday, February 17, 2012
World Map!
The completed world map painting! Thank you to the University of Minnesota-Duluth Econ Club and Department of Economics for their donations!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
I'm a Survivor...
Thus far 2012 has been a roller coaster ride of a year…and I am only in my second month of it. There have been several ups and downs that I will now try and recap for you all. Here we go…
Starting off getting back to site after being away for the Christmas and New Year holidays I was really excited for my upcoming projects. Work got started pretty quickly on the world map I was painting at the school. And I am happy to report that after 2 weeks of hard work it is complete. That was a highlight! Secondly I was really excited to get started on the girls club that was a break off from the Camp GLOW that I went to in December. So far we have had about 3 meetings and they have all gone pretty well. So that is another highlight.
So in the midst of these projects going on here in my village I was trying to work on getting a visa for my b-friend to come with me to London over Easter. We have already bought the plane tickets and then when my mom said he would need a visa I thought okay we will do it no problem. Well man was I wrong. He has now been denied two times for said visa and we are trying to attempt our third and final try at it. The problem was that the first time when we went online to do that application it had you fill it out to submit and then also provide “any other documentation you feel is necessary for your application.” Well to me I thought his application was pretty straightforward so all I turned in was our flight information. Turn out there is a LONG list of documents they deem necessary including financial statements for the previous three months, tenant information to prove that the person we would be staying with was in fact a British citizen, letter to prove he is a student, etc. So the second time we applied he also submitted about 20 pages of supporting documents. Now we just found out that was denied with the only thing they said was that he wasn’t proving his financial status wasn’t documented well enough. Well excuse me British embassy branch in South Africa if I wont provide you with actual account numbers for bank accounts!! So now we are looking up what America requires of people submitting for a visa and just doing that because if it works for the US than it should work for the UK.
Then the next low point was that after a day of visiting my nearest PC neighbor I was biking home when the rains came…hard. I was wearing my REI rain jacket and had my cell phone in one pocket and my iPod in the other and my camera in the back pack I was wearing. After the 45 minute bike ride I got back with the camera, iPod, and phone all not working. That was now 2 and a half weeks ago so if I haven’t been responding to your emails, or fb related messages or posts like I normally do it is because my internet phone is finished.
And finally, and the lowest point of my 2012 life (if not my service thus far) has been this week. It started on a Saturday night (Feb 4th to be exact) and I was awoken at night by terrible body aches, specifically in my back and neck. It continued the next day and I just thought it was due to the fact that the previous few days I had been doing a lot of biking and I was just sore or something. But then Sunday afternoon the fever started and along with that severe chills and even worse body aches, plus a terrible headache. By Monday morning my aches and pains were only getting worse and my fever had reached 101.3 and I thought to myself this may be malaria. I hadn’t believed it was because when other people have mentioned having it they always said they had diarrhea and vomiting and I, thankfully, had neither. But after talking to Peace Corps I was told that I had breakthrough malaria and that I should take my Coartem. My malaria was considered breakthrough malaria because every week I take prophylaxis medicine so that while it doesn’t totally prevent malaria it offers protection and will lessen the severity if you do get it. So I started taking my Coartem and after a few hours my fever dropped and I started feeling a little better. But the problem with malaria is that it is cyclic so you feel fine for a time but then it like comes back and you feel terrible again. So that has what has been happening to me for the past three days. I wake up feeling pretty fine and then around 1600 my fever spikes, I get cold even in spite of the fact that my body temperature is 103, and the aches are back all over my body. Needless to say it has been an awful week for me and I am just ready to be healthy again. And even though I am 23 years old when I feel that sick and terrible there is nothing I wanted more than to be at home with my mom and dad.
So that has been the re-cap on my year thus far and it looks as though the bad has so far outweighed the good but I am hoping that soon that will be changing.
Starting off getting back to site after being away for the Christmas and New Year holidays I was really excited for my upcoming projects. Work got started pretty quickly on the world map I was painting at the school. And I am happy to report that after 2 weeks of hard work it is complete. That was a highlight! Secondly I was really excited to get started on the girls club that was a break off from the Camp GLOW that I went to in December. So far we have had about 3 meetings and they have all gone pretty well. So that is another highlight.
So in the midst of these projects going on here in my village I was trying to work on getting a visa for my b-friend to come with me to London over Easter. We have already bought the plane tickets and then when my mom said he would need a visa I thought okay we will do it no problem. Well man was I wrong. He has now been denied two times for said visa and we are trying to attempt our third and final try at it. The problem was that the first time when we went online to do that application it had you fill it out to submit and then also provide “any other documentation you feel is necessary for your application.” Well to me I thought his application was pretty straightforward so all I turned in was our flight information. Turn out there is a LONG list of documents they deem necessary including financial statements for the previous three months, tenant information to prove that the person we would be staying with was in fact a British citizen, letter to prove he is a student, etc. So the second time we applied he also submitted about 20 pages of supporting documents. Now we just found out that was denied with the only thing they said was that he wasn’t proving his financial status wasn’t documented well enough. Well excuse me British embassy branch in South Africa if I wont provide you with actual account numbers for bank accounts!! So now we are looking up what America requires of people submitting for a visa and just doing that because if it works for the US than it should work for the UK.
Then the next low point was that after a day of visiting my nearest PC neighbor I was biking home when the rains came…hard. I was wearing my REI rain jacket and had my cell phone in one pocket and my iPod in the other and my camera in the back pack I was wearing. After the 45 minute bike ride I got back with the camera, iPod, and phone all not working. That was now 2 and a half weeks ago so if I haven’t been responding to your emails, or fb related messages or posts like I normally do it is because my internet phone is finished.
And finally, and the lowest point of my 2012 life (if not my service thus far) has been this week. It started on a Saturday night (Feb 4th to be exact) and I was awoken at night by terrible body aches, specifically in my back and neck. It continued the next day and I just thought it was due to the fact that the previous few days I had been doing a lot of biking and I was just sore or something. But then Sunday afternoon the fever started and along with that severe chills and even worse body aches, plus a terrible headache. By Monday morning my aches and pains were only getting worse and my fever had reached 101.3 and I thought to myself this may be malaria. I hadn’t believed it was because when other people have mentioned having it they always said they had diarrhea and vomiting and I, thankfully, had neither. But after talking to Peace Corps I was told that I had breakthrough malaria and that I should take my Coartem. My malaria was considered breakthrough malaria because every week I take prophylaxis medicine so that while it doesn’t totally prevent malaria it offers protection and will lessen the severity if you do get it. So I started taking my Coartem and after a few hours my fever dropped and I started feeling a little better. But the problem with malaria is that it is cyclic so you feel fine for a time but then it like comes back and you feel terrible again. So that has what has been happening to me for the past three days. I wake up feeling pretty fine and then around 1600 my fever spikes, I get cold even in spite of the fact that my body temperature is 103, and the aches are back all over my body. Needless to say it has been an awful week for me and I am just ready to be healthy again. And even though I am 23 years old when I feel that sick and terrible there is nothing I wanted more than to be at home with my mom and dad.
So that has been the re-cap on my year thus far and it looks as though the bad has so far outweighed the good but I am hoping that soon that will be changing.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Time in the Big City
I cannot believe that it is already 2012!! Happy New Year to everyone :)
I just wrapped spending time in the southern part of Zambia. First I went down to Lusaka to attend a wedding. It was my first non-village wedding here in Zambia so I was pretty excited. It was a lot of fun, but also very different than what I expected! It was held at like a community hall in the kabwata part of Lusaka. The family of the bride (aunts and uncles pretty much) wore outfits made out of matching brown icitenges and members of the committee (women who helped behind the scences stuff like decorating and set up) also were wearing their own citenge outfits. Then at first a matron dances in with a little girl and little boy who I would equate to a flower girl and ring bearer. And then the line-up (aka bridesmaids and groomsmen) danced in. And I do mean DANCE. They were SO hardcore that it was really fun to watch. Then they went out, had a costume change while the bride and groom then danced in. They didnt dance as intensly, but they were still dancing instead of walking. Then the line-up came in again and did their rountine with each pair getting their own opportunity to bust a move. And as this is happening members of the audience (I dont know what you would call us onlookers) were screaming, cheering, and several even got up to dance as well. Then there were speeches from a representative from both bride and groom and then a guest of honor who's affiliation with the wedding praty was questionable. Then we moved onto dinner which was a buffet and were warned by the MC to "take only what you know so that you dont wind up in the toliet." Those are words of wisdom!
After eating then it was time for cutting the cake and feeding one another and then presenting some of the cake as a gift to the parents of the bride. Then there was a dedication dance from the groom to the bride of Shania Twain's classic, "From this Moment." After this dance the opportunity to dance for other couples happened and I went and danced with my guy and this led to an eruption of cheers and screams from ALL the onlookers. It was so embarrassing, but we stuck through the whole song and tried to pretend no one was watching us. Then the rest of the evening was dancing and a time for photo op with the bride and groom. I felt the whole thing was more of a really fun reception and not so much a wedding ceremony. THere was no father walking the bride down the aisle, no exchanging of rings or vows, and not a whole lot of smiling from the bride. You can check out some pics by clicking on the link below!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.944479424096.2336351.59511885&type=1&l=df8e397ae9
Then after celebrating in Lusaka a few days later I headed to Victoria Falls and Livingstone to celebrate Christmas. I stayed at a really nice place that had a pool, big bed, and a fabulous shower. Pretty sure that everyday I was there I took at least 2 showers a day. Sometimes even 3 if I felt like it because it was just THAT great. The falls were also really fun to see because there was quite a bit of water because it is rainy season and thankfully we didnt encounter any baboons who were after our food. Again if you want to see some pics click on the link below!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.931464486136.2333894.59511885&type=1&l=f467de9e80..
I just wrapped spending time in the southern part of Zambia. First I went down to Lusaka to attend a wedding. It was my first non-village wedding here in Zambia so I was pretty excited. It was a lot of fun, but also very different than what I expected! It was held at like a community hall in the kabwata part of Lusaka. The family of the bride (aunts and uncles pretty much) wore outfits made out of matching brown icitenges and members of the committee (women who helped behind the scences stuff like decorating and set up) also were wearing their own citenge outfits. Then at first a matron dances in with a little girl and little boy who I would equate to a flower girl and ring bearer. And then the line-up (aka bridesmaids and groomsmen) danced in. And I do mean DANCE. They were SO hardcore that it was really fun to watch. Then they went out, had a costume change while the bride and groom then danced in. They didnt dance as intensly, but they were still dancing instead of walking. Then the line-up came in again and did their rountine with each pair getting their own opportunity to bust a move. And as this is happening members of the audience (I dont know what you would call us onlookers) were screaming, cheering, and several even got up to dance as well. Then there were speeches from a representative from both bride and groom and then a guest of honor who's affiliation with the wedding praty was questionable. Then we moved onto dinner which was a buffet and were warned by the MC to "take only what you know so that you dont wind up in the toliet." Those are words of wisdom!
After eating then it was time for cutting the cake and feeding one another and then presenting some of the cake as a gift to the parents of the bride. Then there was a dedication dance from the groom to the bride of Shania Twain's classic, "From this Moment." After this dance the opportunity to dance for other couples happened and I went and danced with my guy and this led to an eruption of cheers and screams from ALL the onlookers. It was so embarrassing, but we stuck through the whole song and tried to pretend no one was watching us. Then the rest of the evening was dancing and a time for photo op with the bride and groom. I felt the whole thing was more of a really fun reception and not so much a wedding ceremony. THere was no father walking the bride down the aisle, no exchanging of rings or vows, and not a whole lot of smiling from the bride. You can check out some pics by clicking on the link below!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.944479424096.2336351.59511885&type=1&l=df8e397ae9
Then after celebrating in Lusaka a few days later I headed to Victoria Falls and Livingstone to celebrate Christmas. I stayed at a really nice place that had a pool, big bed, and a fabulous shower. Pretty sure that everyday I was there I took at least 2 showers a day. Sometimes even 3 if I felt like it because it was just THAT great. The falls were also really fun to see because there was quite a bit of water because it is rainy season and thankfully we didnt encounter any baboons who were after our food. Again if you want to see some pics click on the link below!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.931464486136.2333894.59511885&type=1&l=f467de9e80..
Friday, December 16, 2011
Camp GLOW
GLOW stands for Girls Leading Our World and is a Peace Corps run program around the world. We as volunteers put together a weeklong camp for 2 girls from each of our villages and then invite one female teacher to attend as well. In Peace Corps Zambia we have these camps run in each province and because northern province is so big we have 3 different camps based on district (e.g. Mpika, Mbala, and Kasama).
From 5 December to 9 December we had our Kasama Camp GLOW at a facility about 10km outside of Kasama town. We had 8 Peace Corps Volunteers, 16 girls aged 13-19, 7 teachers, and 3 Zambian counterparts from Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia (PPAZ). Throughout the week we had sessions lead by our counterparts from PPAZ on topics like confidence and motivation, assertiveness, sugar daddies, peer pressure and boyfriends. These sessions provided skills for the girls to take back to the village so that they can empower other girls and women in their communities. We also had arts and crafts time where the girls made things like tye-dye t shirts, decorating journals, and making washable menstrual pads using local citenge fabric and towels. Then we also had a time for sports where we did activities like bowling using empty plastic bottles, knock out, and a relay race. At the end of the week the teams were awarded homemade medals for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place as well as a team spirit award.
Another thing that my district did was assign 4 girls to 2 Peace Corps Volunteers in prides. We had 4 different prides (orange, green, yellow, and purple) and we met as a pride each day during tea break to discuss more about the sessions, answer questions, and just build a small family during the camp with other girls that aren’t from your village. We chose to name them prides for two different reasons. One was to teach the girls about what it means to be proud of yourself and the other because lions live in a group called a pride and in that pride they take care of one another and we hoped that over the week each pride of girls would look out for one another. These prides also competed against each other in sports throughout the week.
I was with the green pride. We named ourselves the green giants and had a great time during the week. I am proud to report that my green giants dominated in sports and therefore took 1st place and walked away with the gold medal for the week! It was so much fun cheering on my girls Mercy, Deophister, Lydia, and Sheila as they competed. I felt like such a proud mom
Now when in January once the schools open again I hope to work with my two girls I brought, Alice and Auxilla, and the teacher to start a girls club that will meet once weekly and do the same things that we did at camp.
Here’s to hoping that it goes as well as the club!
From 5 December to 9 December we had our Kasama Camp GLOW at a facility about 10km outside of Kasama town. We had 8 Peace Corps Volunteers, 16 girls aged 13-19, 7 teachers, and 3 Zambian counterparts from Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia (PPAZ). Throughout the week we had sessions lead by our counterparts from PPAZ on topics like confidence and motivation, assertiveness, sugar daddies, peer pressure and boyfriends. These sessions provided skills for the girls to take back to the village so that they can empower other girls and women in their communities. We also had arts and crafts time where the girls made things like tye-dye t shirts, decorating journals, and making washable menstrual pads using local citenge fabric and towels. Then we also had a time for sports where we did activities like bowling using empty plastic bottles, knock out, and a relay race. At the end of the week the teams were awarded homemade medals for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place as well as a team spirit award.
Another thing that my district did was assign 4 girls to 2 Peace Corps Volunteers in prides. We had 4 different prides (orange, green, yellow, and purple) and we met as a pride each day during tea break to discuss more about the sessions, answer questions, and just build a small family during the camp with other girls that aren’t from your village. We chose to name them prides for two different reasons. One was to teach the girls about what it means to be proud of yourself and the other because lions live in a group called a pride and in that pride they take care of one another and we hoped that over the week each pride of girls would look out for one another. These prides also competed against each other in sports throughout the week.
I was with the green pride. We named ourselves the green giants and had a great time during the week. I am proud to report that my green giants dominated in sports and therefore took 1st place and walked away with the gold medal for the week! It was so much fun cheering on my girls Mercy, Deophister, Lydia, and Sheila as they competed. I felt like such a proud mom
Now when in January once the schools open again I hope to work with my two girls I brought, Alice and Auxilla, and the teacher to start a girls club that will meet once weekly and do the same things that we did at camp.
Here’s to hoping that it goes as well as the club!
1st December…WORLD AIDS DAY
Every 1st of December marks the celebration of World AIDS Day. Last year on this day I went to my Peace Corps neighbors village which was having a big district wide celebration, but this year I decided to bring the party to Misengo.
Overall I think that things went pretty well. We were supposed to start at 8am with a march, but because this I live on Zambian time we didn’t start until after 10am. We then assembled the students and began our march through the “village center.” I had hoped we would sing a song, but instead we just had the group of older girls in the front yell “FIRST DECEMBER” followed by everyone else yelling “WORLD AIDS DAY”. In theory it sounds like a good idea but my bet is that almost all of the pupils who were yelling world AIDS Day had no idea what they were actually saying!
After our march we returned to the school and had our main program that featured speeches by the headman of the village, clinic nurse, and deputy head teacher. I thought these speeches were really good because they really emphasized how important it is to be safe during sex by practicing the ABC’s (which stands for abstinence, being faithful, and condom), and just they that should use the power to say NO and not to pressure other people. It was just good to have these messages coming from people who are leaders in the community.
My favorite portion of the day was the drama and poem section. Zambian LOVE role plays. I remember in school, or even my peace corps training, if you had to do a role play in front of the class chances are you felt embarrassed or pretended to because it wasn’t cool to be into it. Well in Zambia it is exactly the opposite! We had a drama created by the students about how having multiple partners can increase your chances of getting HIV and the best way to avoid is by abstaining from sex. And the poems here are not just read, they are read and danced to robot style. My favorite poem of the day went something like this:
“My name is Mulenga Charles, and I have a poem for you entitled AIDS. AIDS is a killer disease. Thank you.”
But just imagine it going to a beat and having the kid doing some arm motion as he was saying it. Hilarious!
We ended the day with some netball, girl’s soccer, and a soccer game between the grade 8 students and older people in the community. This is where the event took a little dip thanks to some of the older Zambians who were set to play in the soccer game. At first two of the men sent a teacher to come and ask me if they would be receiving a reward for playing. I said no and thought the subject was over. About 15 minutes later I see another teacher approaching me after having just left the two men and know what he is about to ask me. Before he opens his mouth I simply say, ‘no I will not be giving them a reward’ he laughs and then asks if I would be willing to give the two men money so that after the game they can buy beer. Well, naturally I get annoyed and instead of sending my reply back with the teacher I go direct to the men and tell them their request is unacceptable. This was a school event and to ask me to buy them beer for playing a simple game is just ridiculous, and if they refuse to play unless they get a reward then they can just go home now. I then went on to explain that I spend a lot of time and money arranging for the non-alcoholic traditional Zambian drink monkoyo to be made as well as over 250 scones so that should be reward enough for them. After that they stopped complaining and played the game.
So with the beer incident being the only damper overall it was a good day. I had hoped that people would be getting tested to know their status, but not many adults came which was disappointing. However, I think I will just look at this event as a opener to a VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) I am planning to have in May.
Overall I think that things went pretty well. We were supposed to start at 8am with a march, but because this I live on Zambian time we didn’t start until after 10am. We then assembled the students and began our march through the “village center.” I had hoped we would sing a song, but instead we just had the group of older girls in the front yell “FIRST DECEMBER” followed by everyone else yelling “WORLD AIDS DAY”. In theory it sounds like a good idea but my bet is that almost all of the pupils who were yelling world AIDS Day had no idea what they were actually saying!
After our march we returned to the school and had our main program that featured speeches by the headman of the village, clinic nurse, and deputy head teacher. I thought these speeches were really good because they really emphasized how important it is to be safe during sex by practicing the ABC’s (which stands for abstinence, being faithful, and condom), and just they that should use the power to say NO and not to pressure other people. It was just good to have these messages coming from people who are leaders in the community.
My favorite portion of the day was the drama and poem section. Zambian LOVE role plays. I remember in school, or even my peace corps training, if you had to do a role play in front of the class chances are you felt embarrassed or pretended to because it wasn’t cool to be into it. Well in Zambia it is exactly the opposite! We had a drama created by the students about how having multiple partners can increase your chances of getting HIV and the best way to avoid is by abstaining from sex. And the poems here are not just read, they are read and danced to robot style. My favorite poem of the day went something like this:
“My name is Mulenga Charles, and I have a poem for you entitled AIDS. AIDS is a killer disease. Thank you.”
But just imagine it going to a beat and having the kid doing some arm motion as he was saying it. Hilarious!
We ended the day with some netball, girl’s soccer, and a soccer game between the grade 8 students and older people in the community. This is where the event took a little dip thanks to some of the older Zambians who were set to play in the soccer game. At first two of the men sent a teacher to come and ask me if they would be receiving a reward for playing. I said no and thought the subject was over. About 15 minutes later I see another teacher approaching me after having just left the two men and know what he is about to ask me. Before he opens his mouth I simply say, ‘no I will not be giving them a reward’ he laughs and then asks if I would be willing to give the two men money so that after the game they can buy beer. Well, naturally I get annoyed and instead of sending my reply back with the teacher I go direct to the men and tell them their request is unacceptable. This was a school event and to ask me to buy them beer for playing a simple game is just ridiculous, and if they refuse to play unless they get a reward then they can just go home now. I then went on to explain that I spend a lot of time and money arranging for the non-alcoholic traditional Zambian drink monkoyo to be made as well as over 250 scones so that should be reward enough for them. After that they stopped complaining and played the game.
So with the beer incident being the only damper overall it was a good day. I had hoped that people would be getting tested to know their status, but not many adults came which was disappointing. However, I think I will just look at this event as a opener to a VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) I am planning to have in May.
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