....... 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....