World AIDS Day!

World AIDS Day

Flexibility is a key word in the Peace Corps, and in my opinion it is one of the characteristics required to be a volunteer.  Those of you who knew me pre-Peace Corps know that I was someone who liked to schedule things to the extreme, and I liked to stick to plans very strictly.  Flexibility was not one of my strong suits to say the least!! The past 11 months, little by little, I have learned to be flexible and to go with the flow, and it has been very valuable for me.

On a Wednesday morning I was doing laundry, finishing up several “loads” aka about two hours. Note: washing clothes by hands, once you’re used to it, becomes rather therapeutic and enjoyable.  Something about the repetition and being able to turn off your mind while you do it is rather soothing.  Although, I admit I may go back to using a washing machine in 2017J  As I finished up my laundry, I got a call from Bantayehu, my great counterpart and coworker, saying we were just appointed to go give a presentation at the Elementary School for the students, for World AIDS Day.  In the ten minutes following the phone call, I changed into my Grassroot Soccer t-shirt, gathered some materials including two tennis balls (from Grassroot Soccer Training), and met Bantayehu to go to the school.  Along with Aman, my counterpart from Grassroot Soccer Training, we planned and discussed while walking along the dirt road to the school. 

Upon our arrival, a bit of chaos ensued, as the students realized that Hannah, a “ferenji” aka foreigner had stepped foot onto the compound.  Students of all ages crowded around, greeting me, giggling and smiling, as we tried to get an icebreaker game started to entertain them until our lesson began.

As class let out for the morning shift (students here go to school for half days only), about 400-500 students gathered, and we presented about HIV/AIDS by using True/False questions for the students.  Then, we proceeded to select 20 students, 10 boys and 10 girls, and in the center of the mass of students, we played a game from the Grassroot Soccer Manual called “Find the Ball.”  Standing in two lines, facing each other, standing shoulder to shoulder and with their hands behind their lower backs, students passed a tennis ball from one student to the next, while students sang a song in the background.  When the song ended, each team would guess where the other team’s tennis ball was. The second time we played the game, the ball represented HIV. Both times that we played the game, neither team was able to successfully guess who had the tennis ball.  The message?  You cannot tell if a person has HIV/AIDS by looking at them.

Today was a wonderful reminder of the importance of flexibility, and it also was a great opportunity to start sharing the great knowledge and skills I learned in Grassroot Soccer.  Shout out to Aman and Bantayehu, in Mezezo, for leading this lesson and program today!

What is Grasssroot Soccer (GRS)?

Such a fun week!

I had the opportunity to spend four days in Addis, where I participated in a Grassroot Soccer Training called Peace Corps Skillz.  Fifteen Peace Corps volunteers from throughout the country met in Addis, and each brought one counterpart (a motivated person from their respective towns) to the training.  Together, this group of 30 people spent four days together learning about GRS and at the end of the training we all graduated as “Peace Corps SKILLZ Coaches”.  This means we are now equipped with the knowledge and skills to be able to carryout the GRS program in our own towns.

With a group of fellow volunteers!

One of our great coaches!

To set the stage, let me provide some background information about HIV/AIDS.  As of 2012, 34 million people were affected worldwide, and of that, 23.5 million were in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Looking specifically at Ethiopia, the HIV prevalence is 1.3% (.9% for males and 1.8% for females.  There are 1 million AIDS orphans in Ethiopia (note: AIDS orphan is defined as one parent passing away due to AIDS).

While the numbers can be shocking and overwhelming, some statistics are promising and show progress.  The number of people tested for HIV annually has increased from 40,000 in 2005 to 10 million by 2011.  In addition, the proportion of women aged 15-49 who received an HIV test in the last 12 months and who know the results has increased from just 1.9% in 2005 to 20% in 2011, and for men the increase was from 2.3% to 20.7%. 

Grassroot Soccer is helping to fight HIV/AIDS by providing knowledge and skills to youth ages 12-19 through familiar and fun games such as soccer, in a safe space with trained coaches.  GRS partners with many organizations, one of which is the Peace Corps.  It teaches about key behaviors that are driving the spread of HIV in Africa, which include unprotected sex, multiple sexual patners, older sexual partners, and gender-based violence.  GRS, along with its partners have provided education and prevention related to HIV and life skills to more than 700,000 youth since 2002, in 57 countries. 

Practicing one of the GRS activities with some volunteers!

PEACE

I am very excited to do this program at the secondary school in Mezezo, alongside Aman, my counterpart and coworker at the Health Center.  One GRS training/curriculum consists of 11, 60-minute lessons, and at the end there is a graduation where family and friends can come, and each student is praised and receives a certificate for completing the program.

Officially graduated as Skillz Coaches!

I had an incredible time at the GRS training in Addis, and now in Mezezo I have all of the materials I need; a Skillz Team t-shirt, 2 tennis balls, 12 cones, and 2 indestructible soccer balls (literally indestructible). The first round of students will graduate next week from the program, and we are all having a great time together, meeting each morning at the school for 2 hours!  Stay tuned for GRS updates from Mezezo! 

With Aman, my great counterpart from Mezezo!