Babies. Route to school turned obstacle course; the street marked
with children and whatever trash they have reinvented as a toy. As the school year
goes on, many of students become pregnant and mothers of such infants that overflow
from the houses and take over the neighborhood streets… the cycle of young,
single mothers and surplus babies is reinforced. Over the past two years, as a
part of our “Chicas Lideres Inedsoristas” program, we have done a lot with
sexual health education. We don’t teach that it is wrong to have sex and get
pregnant, however aim to help girls stay safe and plan for children when they
are ready, professionally and personally. Last year girls from the program
taught fellow 10th graders at our school about HIV/AIDS prevention.
It was a huge success and we have been looking to do more peer-to-peer
teaching. Being about to teach something truly demonstrates that someone has
learned it. With the help of a friend and a foundation on Tierra Bomba Island,
off the coast of Cartagena, our girls were able to go there and teach a group
of 30+ locals about pregnancy prevention in adolescence.
Tierra Bomba is a large island with four towns. Inhabitants
live in extreme poverty, some of the most extreme cases I’ve seen. Babies galore. I have been to the island about 10 times, and despite
their lack of possessions, adequate housing, and sanitation, among other
issues, nevertheless the people that live there are unified and happy. I always
enjoy my time there.
While Cartagena is a large city of a million, there is
little movement within and inhabitants stay-put in their neighborhood. We love any
opportunity to take students into other sectors. Tierra Bomba was another
chance to see and meet more of Cartagena and its people. Furthermore, our girls
were able to interact with people who have even less money than them, something
that can be hard to come by.
At school, we worked preparing materials and activities for
the presentation. Girls were grouped, each responsible for its own subtopic. Neither
the social workers nor I would participate in the presentation in Tierra Bomba;
it would be completely up to the girls to teach.
Finally all was ready and, accompanied by family members and
teachers, 28 of us took a 45 minute bus ride followed by a 10 minute boat ride
to get to the island where we were warmly welcomed.
The presentation took about an hour and a half and consisted
of a variety of activities. I anticipated success, but the girls blew us all
away. They were SO confident and practiced and knew what they were teaching, speaking
in detail and responding correctly to questions. Maybe most remarkable is that four
months ago they did not know any of this—none knew what an ovary was and many
thought that drinking beer after having sex prevented pregnancy… Now look at
them!
Introduction
Ice-breakers
Reproductive parts
Functions of reproductive parts
Fertilization process
How a fetus grows
Cultural reasons why people don't use anticontraceptives
How to use a condom
Other methods of birth control
Pregnancy myths
Review
Jeopardy
Our group!
The foundation gave provided lunch for all and finally everyone
went to Playa Linda, a beach on the island to swim and play soccer and kickball
together. All in all a special day and very empowering for our girls.
