....... Bewilderment ......

So today, I gave a sexual education talk to a different class of girls at the school. My goal by doing this: trying to engrain into the girls' brains to use contraception every time! After class, 4 girls came up to me and confided in me that they've been having unprotected sex, because "it just happened." To me, that is no excuse; Villa El Salvador's clinics offer free condoms/birth control pills to whomever wants them (unless they run out, in which case you're out of luck for that night), so you have plenty of time to plan ahead. When I told them about the clinics, they made some excuse that sometimes the clinics don't give condoms to girls etc. etc. etc. Thus, I proceeded trying to tell the girls that they should go to the store and buy condoms themselves, they're not that expensive. Their response: It's too embarrassing. My response? Would you rather suffer 5 minutes of embarrassment or have to single-handedly take care of a child at your young age? They mulled over that, and I seemed to have put certain things into perspective for them with this comment. However, they still complained that buying condoms at the pharmacy is too embarrassing. So I told them that their homework for the week is to go in a group to the pharmacy - so that it's less awkward - and buy condoms. If they do that, and can prove to me that they did it by bringing in either the condoms that they bought or the receipt, I will reimburse them by buying a condom for each of the condoms that THEY bought..... Yup. I'm wondering now if this was a good idea, but these girls need to learn somehow... If it takes me going out to a Peruvian supermarket and asking for a hundred condoms in order to help these girls' have a healthy sex-life, I will do so.

Overall though, I am just totally bewildered and sad that these girls know a lot about birth control, yet never APPLY it. And then they have multiple kids with multiple guys, and lament their lost adolescence. Well I'm here to tell them that they can do something about this. If they would only follow my advice....

Family Relations and Domestic Violence

I've been noticing that when I talk to the girls, they've become super open with me and will all want me to help them solve their personal problems. It's great that they trust me and my advice, but I am not all-knowing. Each class period, if we have some time left, one by one the girls will come up to me and talk to me about their love lives/family lives/friends, asking me for advice on how to handle different situations. More often than not I will ask the other girls in the class what THEY think should be done, since I can only offer one perspective while a group forum can offer multiple perspectives on what should be done. However, I love that these girls and I are starting to form a bond, and I'm honestly learning just as much from them as (hopefully) they are from me. There was one girl that came up to me and quietly said that even though I talked about loving yourself, she didn't feel like she actually loved herself. She said she would always crush on boys who wouldn't like her back, and who would instead like her more open, flirty peers. I told her that instead of focusing on what she deems the "bad" aspects of her personality, she should name 5 things to me that she's proud of regarding her personality. As she considered this possibility she suddenly became more animated and began listing off things that she liked about herself. I told her that she should never change the person who she is, not for anyone or anything. It may take a few years time, but she will ultimately one day find a guy who appreciates her for  who she is.

Now that I've pretty much completed the first course of my interactive discussions (focusing on loving yourself as a woman and not tolerating sexism), I'm going to start a chapter on family relations and domestic violence. Unfortunately, the district of Villa El Salvador (in Lima), has a vast amount of domestic violence allegations which mostly goes unnoticed by the (mainly) male police force. This is why, a few years back, the district was the first to create an all-female police force specifically for domestic disputes. Even though Villa is taking steps toward a progressive future, there is still more violence than most anywhere else. While I can't do that much, my plan is to educate the girls about domestic violence and give them all the necessary information about the female police force, which is called DEMUNA (like phone number, email address, locations), just so they are aware it exists and how to get in touch with the organization. Next on the agenda would be to stress the importance of communication within members of a household. I will give each of the girls a piece of paper and an envelope for them to write a letter to either their mother, father, or both, and they will have to write what they are thankful for, and what they wish could be changed and how their parent(s) could bring about that change. I hope to give these sealed envelopes to the girls' homeroom teacher so that she can give each of these letters to the respective parents when they come in for a parent-teacher meeting.

Let's see how it goes.

Fun Fact: I'm getting really into the Peruvian national soccer team. Best players = Vargas and Pizarro. Colors = red and white. Score: beat Paraguay, lost to Chile. People get CRAAAAZZZZYYY over here when Peru wins, and I love love love being in the midst of all the chaos (especially when they win.. like on friday night. I'm pretty sure I was on peruvian television haha)

The Jungle.... 'Nuff Said.

pretty!

canopy walk

hiking :)

Rowing Crew.... in the Amazon?

Beat that East Coast college students ;)