Training new Volunteers

HIV/AIDS prevention is a Peace Corps initiative, which means that all projects, not just health, are encouraged to work in the area and all projects in Honduras receive a two day training of trainers in youth HIV prevention activities. So in the beginning of September I went with two other health volunteers to a town outside of Tegucigalpa to train the new Protected Areas Management trainees. On the way to the sites there was a huge car accident (not uncommon with the way people drive here) and three of the facilitators got stuck on the wrong side of it and had to get out and walk to the other side and then wait for a long time at a gas station for a Peace Corps vehicle to go pick them up. It was a bit of a mess, but luckily we all arrived at the training sites safely.

Once in the training site we stayed with host families because it was a little village with no hotels. I stayed with Robynn, another volunteer, in a private little house off of the main house of a family. It was nice to have the privacy but there was a chicken living in the latrine and we were scared to use it while the chicken was in there so we just peed outside. Also, the shower was outside their house and there was nowhere for us to change, so we opted out of showering for two days. The family had two little girls who were great. One night we spent hours sharing jokes, rhythms, tongue twisters, sayings and riddles. It was so much fun! Robynn and did I’m a Little Tea Pot, which they thought was hilarious. We tried to translate the knock-knock jokes we could remember but it didn’t really work because the word plays are not the same in Spanish. We taught them tongue twisters like How much wood would a wood chuck chuck and Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore…The younger girl of about 5 told us a dirty joke about a tortilla and a frying pan, but luckily I don’t think she knew what it meant. Robynn and I hadn’t thought of most of those things for years so it was a riot to stand in their kitchen with two little girls and their mother and laugh hysterically.

The training went well and I think the trainees liked it. Most of them say they dreaded it beforehand but then enjoyed it once they actually saw what it is. An HIV positive woman came and gave a testimony about her life and it was very touching. One thing that she said that was particularly striking for me was that people living with HIV should not be seen as the problem, but the solution. I think this attitude is important because it completely changes the image of an HIV positive person from one of shame and guilt to responsibility and power to make a difference.