Goodbye, good luck, give me a job

Sanibonani, all.

Sooo, here we are. I have less than a month left here, and it's becoming a whirlwind already. My host sister made it through step one (of a MANY-step program) to go to college in America. That'll mean the TOEFL for her and lots of preparation help from me. There's supposed to be another volunteer replacing me in my village, so I'm hoping that volunteer can help shepherd her the rest of the way. I'll be fundraising to help defray the cost of the exam soon. As of now, I'm paying for it.


I'm preparing to leave and getting ready to say goodbyes. We had one of our last girls empowerment club meetings last week. I had been waiting to talk about reproductive health until I felt that the girls were comfortable with me. This was the time.

We covered the whole female reproductive system, and they asked a few questions. But then I brought out my trump card: the question box. The girls bolted for the scrap paper and started writing the questions they were too embarrassed to ask aloud:

- Will my period hurt?
- How old will I be when I get it?
- What if I have my period, and my mother wants to see my vagina?
- What happens if I have sex while I'm still young?
- Can I get pregnant if I have sex while I'm menstruating?
- What do babies eat inside the womb?
- How does the baby get out of such a small opening?

We had more than 20 questions from our group of 24 girls. As we answered them, girls would run up and put more questions in the box. It was absolutely amazing. These girls are young, 11 to 14, so I didn't expect them to have much information about this yet. But I was thrilled that the other club leaders and I could help explain this confusing process that is adolescence. It was so gratifying.

The next week, my friend and I taught a great HIV and STI session at the high school, where the kids peppered us with questions:

- How long does HIV survive outside the body?
- If a woman is HIV-positive and has an HIV-negative baby, what is she supposed to feed it if there's HIV in her breast milk?
- How can an HIV-positive woman and an HIV-positive man make an HIV-negative baby?
- If one person has HIV, and the other partner doesn't, will they always get infected if they have unprotected sex?

Afterward, the teachers who were present said they'd also learned a lot. And my friend, who had been hesitant before, eagerly took my HIV materials and lesson plan so she could reuse them.

It's been a gratifying couple of weeks.

I've also gotten deep into the job hunt, which is nerve-racking and a little terrifying. But Jack and I know we'll make it through it. Who wants to hire us? Anyone?

Salani kahle, all!