I Choose My Life

Escojo mi vida. It’s the name of our youth initiative. There are youth groups all over the nation with current youth and health volunteers as well as groups that have continued to function after their volunteers have left; something like 60 in total.

My group is going really well. We have meetings every Monday night after an English class that I give (in English last week I brought in many different clothing items and proceeded to put them on while the kids told me what they were in English. Then we sang the song from “High School Musical” called “What Time is It?” to practice a recent lesson on time.) In Escojo I am about to begin the sexual education portion of the initiative after giving a few sessions on healthy decisions, values, etc.

I remember as late as sophomore year of high school in my health education class wondering how the woman in front of us, a sexual educator from a nearby NGO, could possibly allow herself to speak to a group of sarcastic, self-centered and arrogant teenagers about a topic as sensitive as sex. Despite my trepidation, she seemed comfortable and even confident in front of the classroom, even as she yanked a condom down over her arm to show us how large they can stretch.

A lot has changed since then because now I can see that for as embarrassing or nerve-wracking as it could have been for her, even if only when she first started, it comes down to the fact that it’s just necessary to talk openly with youth about sex. If she didn’t, and I don’t, who will? The public school system in both the US and the DR are supposed to give in depth sexual education to students but who’s to say that’s the best way- that those kids are comfortable asking their teachers sensitive questions? That the teachers, especially here, have been properly trained? Parents can’t be depended on, though some might argue they should be the ones doing this sort of education, because there’s no way to ensure that they are thorough and objective in what they present. Other community leaders are another potential, which I think can sometimes be a reliable option. And we know a lot they learn about comes from their friends and classmates.
But I can say with certainty that in my community, there are 18, 19, 24 year olds who still don’t know the basics about reproduction, who are dying to find out more, so much so that they have managed to overcome their Dominican verguenza (shame or embarrassment) to ask me questions.

The idea is that I teach the youth and then they teach their friends in both unstructured and structured settings. For example, if I give a course on sex ed and teach them how to replicate the information, then their friends at high school (or middle school) who might have heard what we’re up to can ask them questions. Later, we will, as a group, go to other communities spreading what they have learned in sessions, hopefully motivating those youth to start their own group.

Two weekends ago two highly intelligent and very motivated girls from my Escojo group and I went to a regional conference for Escojo in Santiago. The conference consisted of about 50 youth in total either there with the roughly 15 volunteers who also participated, or representing their communities, where volunteers used to work. We participated in sessions on various themes such as What is Escojo?, What are HIV and AIDS?, How to Give an Interesting Session, Gender Disparities, Discrimination and HIV, How to Plan a Project in Your Community, etc. In the evening they played education games and gave a talent show. They (and the volunteers) paid nothing to participate and transportation was reimbursed. That, as well as a grant that I am currently applying for, was paid for by a large grant that is a part of the President’s Initiative on AIDS. They girls received tee-shirts and really seemed to be having a good time, though by Sunday it seemed to me that they were both really anxious to get home. When one girl (a 12 year-old) got to her house, she almost fell into her mother’s arms. These kids are hardly ever away from home, though they both told me they weren’t homesick.

I’d say the conference was a success and was very interesting. There is also a national conference for the same amount of time and a day-long sub-regional conference that is a much smaller deal. We are also encouraged to meet regularly with other groups in our area, something I am hoping to do soon.

My group is mostly male, something pretty rare among Escojo, and seems to be forming a solid group of about 20 though attendance is usually around 25. The participants are interested in the topics, which makes me very happy because I was nervous they’d be too embarrassed to get into a lot of it. Two sessions ago we had a very open conversation about condoms with hardly any giggling. I’m pretty convinced people are starting to see the benefit for participating and aren’t just coming for the free treats I hand out at the end of every meeting. And that is what matters most.