This week we will teach students at a college in Arushatown.
We drove twenty minutes out of the city to the school, which appeared to be in
a small village of its own. The drive
was my first view of the rural areas and the scenery characteristic to pictures
of Africa: corn fields lined the road on
either side, homes of concrete with tin roofs and buildings of wood and grass
were set back a bit, hills of green grass and trees dotting the landscape,
people walking along a well beaten path- some Maasai, characterized by gauged
ears and walking sticks, some women in traditional Kanga wraps skillfully
carrying baskets on their heads, and some of either gender (mostly men) walking
in slacks and well-ironed shirts- a faint outline of mountains providing the
backdrop for it all. Our jeep rolled
over the dirt roads, bumping over ruts and rocks- the daggers of death for
tires here. One tire did not survive the
journey and upon arrival it was clear why this ride was particularly
bumpy.
There were three schools in the village: a nursery school, a
primary school, and the college where we were to teach. The college and nursery occupied several
connected buildings, yellow and plain with their names painted in dark red on
the front side. The primary school was across the street: a long concrete
building with iron bars decorating the windows, gray against the brown dirt
lawn and dull to the green plants and trees surrounding. It appeared to be vacant from afar, until a
door opened and children ran out, screaming with delight. Their purple uniforms were a trickle of
brightness, seeping through the scene as they ran about the yard, waving and
laughing when they saw us watching. A
few dared to come so close as to hide in a ditch fifty feet away and poked
their heads up to peek when our own heads turned away.
Minutes later the nursery school released their kids too, and
tiny legs carried miniature bodies across the lawn in front of us, bringing
forth a stream of shining faces, bright with smiles and producing shrieks of
delight that comes with recess and the excitement of seeing friendly strangers
standing by their playground. A few had
the courage to come close to wave and one girl was brave enough to share a hug
with one of us visitors. These precious children were not the reason for our
visit though, so we moved inside the college to meet the students we were to
teach.
Last week we assigned to groups consisting of three American
volunteers and one Tanzanian counterpart who serves as a translator and
assistant for the teaching. Each group
was then assigned to one classroom of 20 students. After our teaching, these 18 to 25 year-old
college students will proceed to train others in the areas of HIV/AIDS, Life
Skills and Nutrition. The teaching schedule is as follows:
Day 1- basic biology of HIV/AIDS
and the immune system, modes of transmission, disease prevention as well as
communication life skills;
Day 2- HIV prevention, gender and
culture roles and issues related to HIV;
Day 3- information about testing
and treatment, an overview of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI), human
rights, stigma and discrimination, and decision-making life skills;
Day 4- nutrition education, and
information about how to eat a balanced diet;
Day 5- hygiene education, special
nutrition practices for women and children, and malnutrition.
We will teach this group of students for about three hours a
day for one week and move to another school next week.
Many of the students already had a basic understanding of
HIV/AIDS. They were sure of certain
facts about the virus such as the age of those commonly infected, the
prevalence of HIV in the global community, and the stigma that is associated
with those infected. However there were
still many questions concerning religious beliefs and HIV, how the disease is
transmitted, and many questions about the biology of HIV, its progression into
AIDS, and why there is not yet a cure. I
think many of these students even know the answers and truth behind the myths
of the disease, but their questions suggest that others in their networks have
not received enough education to properly keep themselves safe and free of
disease- a classic health problem that occurs not just in Tanzania, but all
around the world. The purpose of our teaching is to help dispel the myths and
stigma associated with those infected with HIV and emphasize the steps a person
can take to keep her or him and their loved ones safe and healthy.
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