peer edu-who?

i just got done with my first training in village for peer educators. the basic idea behind this is that you teach a group of whoevers in village a variety of information and hope that they will go out and share it with their peers. i think i mentioned this somewhere before. anyhow, my homologue and i gathered 15 students and one apprentice and went through an intense training the past three days. we covered lots of topics: self-confidence, puberty and adolescence, early pregnancy and abortions, gender equity, how to facilitate a discussion, how to give advice, sexual harrassment and rape, child trafficking, peer pressure, how to speak in front of groups, hiv and aids, and some i'm sure i'm forgetting at the moment. as hard as it was at times, i think it went really well. it helped to have toni, nori, and alicia (bless their souls) come and help me with some sessions. my homologue (bless his soul) means well so he was great to work with for the most part, but there were a few times that he did things that made the whole thing more frustrating. maybe i did the same, i don't know. but that's the price you pay for working with people i guess. i need to keep reminding myself that i cannot expect perfection from people. as perfect as i may be...ahem... i know not everyone works like i do. i also need to remind myself that i'm working with young people who have not been exposed to this information as much as i have and who have a whole different set of challenges they're dealing with, so i have to remain patient and hopeful. i may not see changes now, but these things take time.

this group of peer educators is going to be my main source of work in village and i am praying that it will stay solid. i'm not banking on it being a sustainable project (sustaina-what?) just yet, we'll just take it one meeting at a time.