This morning was a bit frustrating for me, but I am trying really hard to be understanding. After our Khmer lesson, our in country coordinator was reading through the HIV teaching manual, as she will have to interpret for us with classes where English is not fluent for the participants. She said that in Khmer culture it is not appropriate for people, especially women, to talk about sex or say sexual words. The sexual words she was referring to were the proper, appropriate and medically accurate names for female and male sex organs. She said people here just don't talk about it and that we will make people very uncomfortable if we say those words. We tried to explain to her that there is no other way to educate people on HIV, transmission and prevention without talking about anatomy. Sex is the main way HIV is spread. There is just no way around talking about it if we are here to do HIV education. I explained to her we use those words not be to crude at all. The words are the appropriate ones, not slang. Kate also explained that the reason HIV spreads is because people don't talk about it- they don't talk about sex, let alone safer sex. That is why we are here. Silence equals infection. People may be uncomfortable for 2 hours a day for 5 days while in the class, but we would rather have them be uncomfortable for a few hours and know how to protect themselves against HIV versus not know and get infected! I felt myself getting really upset trying to explain why the sex discussion is so important. So I thought of my mom and Matt and how they would handle this. They would ask how could we make it more comfortable for people? What can we do to make it better, easier for people? I took a deep breath and did just that. I asked her what can we do so people will be more comfortable. She suggested separating the boys and girls- doing two separate classes. That way the girls will feel more comfortable asking questions without fear of teasing from the boys. We came to a solution! I also suggested making a "disclaimer" at the beginning of the class that this topic may be uncomfortable and we will be discussing things most Cambodians don't, but it is very important we talk about sex and how it relates to HIV. Also say that we will be using the proper terms for body parts. This is not to offend anymore or be crude. It is to provide accurate information. I do that at home in my job so it only makes sense we would do it here. She really liked that idea. We were able to come to compromise! I chalked it up to another cultural learning experience.
After that exhausting exchange we went to lunch and I visited the Lucky SuperMarket for the first time. It is isn't too far from the apartment so I can do some grocery shopping there.
Later in the afternoon we had a meeting with the director of a boarding school for drop out youth. It is a school where youth who have previously dropped out of school can come and get education, life skills training, and build character. The kids pay only for their food and the rest the program takes care of everything else. They live at the compound, which is about 45 minutes outside of Phnom Penh. To have a facility in the city is just too expensive. The school is trying to be totally self sufficient. The kids built the dorms and all the facilities there. They cook their own food, do their own cleaning, and have chores. The program wants to instill character and responsibility. Right now the education topics include accounting, English, motivation, and computer skills. It is a two year program and the kids are only allowed to go back home once every six months. After the program many go onto work in hotels or the hospitality industry. The director was very interested in us coming in to do HIV education, Healthy Relationships, and Communication. The kids also would love to practice their English with a native speaker. They are not allowed to speak Khmer at all because the program really wants them to be proficient at English. He wants us to come visit the school next week which would be really cool! I really hope this works out because I would love to teach these kids! At home i always enjoyed teaching in the alternative schools. The kids are just so much more open and ask really good questions. They have more life experience. These kids are at a greater risk for HIV, thus why we should be working with them.
We had a relaxing evening in. We were going to go to a documentary screening but Molly is fighting a bad cold so we decided not to go. Maybe tomorrow night hopefully!
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