Wednesday, August 14, 2013

"Tell me, I'll forget. Show me, I'll remember. Involve me, I'll understand."

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.