Friday, December 12, 2008
i hate computers right now
i have been meaning to update my blog for a while. i got one post up and typed the next one. it was nice and long and it got earased. i'm too frustrated to retype it or anything else right now. but it's just to inform everyone that i have a lot i'd like to share and will do so next time i'm not about to throw a computer out on the road to get run over by a bush taxi, goat, and maybe even a donkey. and i wanted to wish everyone a merry christmas and happy new year. cheers.
le travail du SIDA
the work we do in our communities as peace corps volunteers in togo is supposed to be defined by whatever sector we are in. be it girls' education and empowerment, health, business, or natural resource. in reality, the lines between the four are so blurred that a health volunteer could very well look more like a business volunteer, a natural resource volunteer could look more like an education volunteer, etc. in the end, a volunteer is a volunteer is a volunteer. cross sectoral work is encouraged which is great since it broadens work opportunities for everyone.
recently i feel like i've done more work in the health/AIDS realm than anything else. it started in october when i did a bike tour called AIDS ride. we started in notsé (you should look at a togo map at this point), went east to tohoun, up to akparé, then took a car to atakpamé. i believe the total distance we rode our bikes was just around 100K. the riding was not nearly as difficult as i had anticipated it to be. it was broken up by about 20 to 30K a day, with the longest leg being no longer than 16K. generally we would wake up, ride to a school or public location, do an AIDS sensibilization, ride to the next village, do another AIDS sensibilization, ride to the place we were going to sleep (either a dispensaire or school), and repeat the next day. my group mostly did the sensibilizations at schools which i really liked because we could do the whole thing in french without having to translate it. and for the most part the audience would be more engaged. about a week before this bike tour i really considered dropping out for a number of different reasons but in the end i was so happy i got to do it. it was interesting to see the level of awareness different group had in regards to HIV/AIDS and the kinds of questions we were able to answer. as far as pretty much living outside for a whole week... it turned out to be not as bad as I had thought it was going to be. i've never done much out in nature living (when i've gone camping we normally choose sites with real bathrooms, not really roughing it), but i gained a new appreciation for sleeping under the stars and showering in a shower made out of palm tree branches. i'm looking forward to doing it again next year.
i did a training back in september to start working with an HIV/AIDS organization in atakpamé called CREJe. they work with families infected or affected by HIV/AIDS and provide them with all kinds of support. every saturday they organize activities for kids 6ish to 15ish. on the second saturday of every month is called CLUB Espoir and the day is organized and run by a different pcv. we start the day around 9 with games and some kind of sport. then we go into the educatinal session (tomorrow we talk about good decision making). next we do some kind of art activity and end with lunch. it's a really good time. i love playing with the kids and we have a great team organiwing and leading all the activities. getting to work with this ngo makes me really excited to continue this kind of work in the states. not necessarily having to do with HIV/AIDS but with community youth in an urban setting.
the work i did in mpoti during the month of november revolved around an event me and alicia helped organize for world aids day. we worked with some of the red cross volunteers in her village, my village, and the village between ours to plan an all-day event to raise HIV/AIDS awareness. here was the original plan of how that whole thing was to go: we were going to start the day with parades from tchifama (alicia's village) and mpoti (my village) to tadjan. in tadjan, skits would tehn be presented by different groups from each of the three villages. we were then going to go into a mass sensibilization on HIV/AIDS, covering the defenition of HIV and AIDS, the modes of transmission, ways to prevent it, do a condom and femidom demonstration, talk about stigmatization, and end with questions from the public. after a lunch break, we were going to endthe day with a soccer game between tadjan and tchifama. sounds like a nice, simple plan, right? well, LONG story short, things didnt really go according to plan. we ended up starting late, cutting the sensibilization short, getting plenty stressed, and having the soccor game end ubruptly after only 20 miutes because of some conflicts on the field. even though the day came close to being a complete disaster at points, i'm glad we did it. it got people talking and asking questions, and even if just a handful of people change certain decisions they make, it will have been totally worth the stress. and i'm just thankful i had alicia there to tag team it with me. i'm not sure i would have survived otherwise. next year world aids day will look a little (ou bien a whole lot) different.
recently i feel like i've done more work in the health/AIDS realm than anything else. it started in october when i did a bike tour called AIDS ride. we started in notsé (you should look at a togo map at this point), went east to tohoun, up to akparé, then took a car to atakpamé. i believe the total distance we rode our bikes was just around 100K. the riding was not nearly as difficult as i had anticipated it to be. it was broken up by about 20 to 30K a day, with the longest leg being no longer than 16K. generally we would wake up, ride to a school or public location, do an AIDS sensibilization, ride to the next village, do another AIDS sensibilization, ride to the place we were going to sleep (either a dispensaire or school), and repeat the next day. my group mostly did the sensibilizations at schools which i really liked because we could do the whole thing in french without having to translate it. and for the most part the audience would be more engaged. about a week before this bike tour i really considered dropping out for a number of different reasons but in the end i was so happy i got to do it. it was interesting to see the level of awareness different group had in regards to HIV/AIDS and the kinds of questions we were able to answer. as far as pretty much living outside for a whole week... it turned out to be not as bad as I had thought it was going to be. i've never done much out in nature living (when i've gone camping we normally choose sites with real bathrooms, not really roughing it), but i gained a new appreciation for sleeping under the stars and showering in a shower made out of palm tree branches. i'm looking forward to doing it again next year.
i did a training back in september to start working with an HIV/AIDS organization in atakpamé called CREJe. they work with families infected or affected by HIV/AIDS and provide them with all kinds of support. every saturday they organize activities for kids 6ish to 15ish. on the second saturday of every month is called CLUB Espoir and the day is organized and run by a different pcv. we start the day around 9 with games and some kind of sport. then we go into the educatinal session (tomorrow we talk about good decision making). next we do some kind of art activity and end with lunch. it's a really good time. i love playing with the kids and we have a great team organiwing and leading all the activities. getting to work with this ngo makes me really excited to continue this kind of work in the states. not necessarily having to do with HIV/AIDS but with community youth in an urban setting.
the work i did in mpoti during the month of november revolved around an event me and alicia helped organize for world aids day. we worked with some of the red cross volunteers in her village, my village, and the village between ours to plan an all-day event to raise HIV/AIDS awareness. here was the original plan of how that whole thing was to go: we were going to start the day with parades from tchifama (alicia's village) and mpoti (my village) to tadjan. in tadjan, skits would tehn be presented by different groups from each of the three villages. we were then going to go into a mass sensibilization on HIV/AIDS, covering the defenition of HIV and AIDS, the modes of transmission, ways to prevent it, do a condom and femidom demonstration, talk about stigmatization, and end with questions from the public. after a lunch break, we were going to endthe day with a soccer game between tadjan and tchifama. sounds like a nice, simple plan, right? well, LONG story short, things didnt really go according to plan. we ended up starting late, cutting the sensibilization short, getting plenty stressed, and having the soccor game end ubruptly after only 20 miutes because of some conflicts on the field. even though the day came close to being a complete disaster at points, i'm glad we did it. it got people talking and asking questions, and even if just a handful of people change certain decisions they make, it will have been totally worth the stress. and i'm just thankful i had alicia there to tag team it with me. i'm not sure i would have survived otherwise. next year world aids day will look a little (ou bien a whole lot) different.
Friday, December 5, 2008
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