I have changed my flight date to return on November 16th to NYC. I will be leaving Arusha sometime between this Monday and Wednesday to travel in Africa with a few other volunteers. We are currently planning to go to Kampala for about 4 days and then return via Nairobi to watch election returns and maybe see giraffes again. After that (around November 5th or 6th) I will probably be back in Arusha to pick up the excess baggage that I have accumulated, then i think I will go to Tanga for a few days and eventually Dar to fly out on November 16th.
Hooray! This should make it just right so that i don't completely run out of money, BUT I will actually get to travel with friends that I have made here.
I am considering doing white water rafting the Nile in Jinja,Uganda- Anyone know how likely it is that I would die doing that by: 1) parasites or 2)drowning/concussion? I am actually interested to know how dangerous this really is. You go with guides who are like bouncers who rip you out of the water when you might die.
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Sex Ed Class
Today was my last day with the students. I am actually really proud of my impromptu sex ed class. I bought some condoms and did a full on demonstration to show them that condoms don't have holes. I also dealt with some AMAZING misconceptions about HIV. Many of my students believe that HIV was created in a laboratory to kill the african people. Most of them believe that condoms prevent against pregnancy but not HIV. To be fair, african brand condoms are questionable. I can't figure out what they are made of, but it is definitely not latex. I think it might be some generic rubber product which begs the question, do they actually prevent against HIV? They should... Can anyone find me information on the reliability of Salama brand condoms?
One of my students argued tooth and nail with me insisting that HIV cannot be transmitted by semen - only blood. I drew a handy diagram of seminal fluid and went into great detail about how "penis juice, vagina juice, and blood" are the only conductors of HIV. He firmly believed that condoms are just a business that takes advantage of the African people, but I believe that I persuaded him otherwise as well as several others and I might have actually saved some lives.
After class I let them ask me all sorts of questions which ranged from anal and oral sex to bestiality and transmission of HIV from mother to child. I don't know if anyone has ever talked to them this frankly about sex before. But I think it was important that I do it because they know and respect me and they know that I wouldn't lie to them.
It is really hard to listen to them say things over and over, like how HIV cannot be prevented by condoms, or how birth control pills are poison, or how prayer is a form of birth control, or how drinking water after sex prevents pregnancy, or how condoms all have holes, or how condoms are evil, or how prayer can make you well if you have HIV (like test negative again).....but I guess it allows me to address the problem more directly. It does also make me want to bang my head against a wall.
Masha, the teacher I work most with, at lunch noted that I am infinitely better than any other volunteer that he has ever had because I work hard and really care. He also gave me some African cloths to make clothes out of. It was a good day. I will miss my students a lot.
Issky Cool?
16 years ago
2 comments:
I rafted the Nile at Jinja and didn't die. But I managed to hang onto the raft every time it flipped. Those who didn't looked pretty shell shocked when we collected them again. It kicked ass though, totally do it.
I think Salama condoms are legit. The peace corps let them come to our AIDS conference and gave us samples to pass out. Also they gave us t-shirts. My Salama condom t-shirt is one of my most prized possessions.
What did you tell them about hiv transmission from mother to child?
It can't be transmitted during birth unless the baby has open wounds, I think, but is most commonly transmitted by breast feeding. This also can be prevented if the baby drinks breast milk only, or doesn't drink it at all, because hard food tears up the baby's esophagus which then creates an entryway for the breast milk into the bloodstream. So if they just drink breast milk they won't get cuts in the esophagus and they'll be fine, or if they don't drink breast milk at all they'll be fine.
(breast milk is another fluid that carries hiv, but it has to get into your bloodstream)
I just sent a note off to East Wind's condom meta (the guy in charge of making sure condoms are every where you could possibly want them on the commune) and asked about Salama brand. He's pretty OCD about researching the condoms before he buys them. So, he should be able to find out how quality they are pretty quick.
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