HIV Health Fairs

Following the HIV/AIDS workshop that I attended in St. Lucia, a co-worker and I set up tables at health fairs in 2 poorer communities. We had a great turnout at both and were able to reach about 200 people in total, ages 16 to about 60. At the first fair, we conducted both male and female condom demonstrations and distributed approximately 1,000 condoms to the surrounding community, while educating them on HIV and STI’s. We found that the photographs of infected body parts were especially effective in getting their attention...you would understand if you saw them too. The small shop owners were very receptive to us and welcomed the information. At the second fair, we had an even larger crowd (and more men) and they were especially captivated by the visual tools illustrating the female anatomy and the female condom. It was exciting how many people showed interest and were willing to learn more about how they can personally prevent the spread of HIV.

Yo quiero tacos!

Peace Corps Goal #2. To help promote a better understanding of the American people on the part of the people served.

I brought tacos to my friends. Lisa and Junior had NEVER had them before, much less even knew what a tortilla was! What??? Ummm, you're welcome.

Tobago

This week I went to Tobago…as part of my job! I went to a Peer Counseling Trainers Workshop with 2 of my co-workers from Hope-Pals, an HIV/AIDS advocacy group I work with, and we got to stay at an all-inclusive resort (thank you Red Cross International)! The training sessions were really interesting and it was even more of an experience for me to hear so many stories firsthand from people who are HIV+. It made the material much more real. By the end of the week, I scored high enough marks on my exams and teach-back session that I received my Trainer’s Certificate!

Our last and only free day on the island consisted of me taking my 62-year old friend Keith and our taxi driver on a wild goose chase to try to find the sites where "Swiss Family Robinson" was filmed. No one I spoke with seemed to know what movie I was talking about, but oddly enough, the random taxi driver had grown up on the land where the film crew had camped for part of the time! Obviously a lot had changed since 1960, but he remembered most of the locations and I was able to narrate for him what happened in each spot. It was quite humorous, and cool to know I was walking where Fritz, Ernst, and Francis had roamed.

St. George's Volleyball

This was our 2nd official volleyball game against Grenville and we are still undefeated!

The men played as well, but unfortunately lost this time...I blame the rain. Lisa and I still had fun keeping score and getting soaked though.

Football...not soccer

I'm finally learning to say it correctly.

Today was a great day. Not only did Grenada kill the US Virgin Islands 10-0, but Brady, Andrew, and I all got jerseys from the players after the game! All I had to do was ask, but I think there was a little more begging involved on the guys' parts. Ahhh, it finally pays to be a woman down here! Then we all played in the rain and acted like groupies by stalking one of the players named Shane...one of our new favorites, if not only for his sweet mohawk.

Beach Day with the Limes kids

Just another day at the beach with some of my kids from the Limes program...

Happy Easter! (part 2)

I spent Easter weekend at Lauren's house in the country with her and Megan, and we had such a relaxing time together. We mostly stayed in our pajamas and watched TV, a novelty I don't have, but surprisingly don't miss too much. Lauren also surprised us with candy baskets on Easter morning just like my Mom used to (a.k.a. a plastic ice cream tub with construction paper taped on...haha, oh the Peace Corps resourcefulness). My favorite part was that some of her neighbor kids were sweet enough to make us kites so we relived our childhood and flew them on the ridge at sunset...me singing "Let's go fly a kite" all the while.

Happy Easter!

"Miss, did you MAKE this?"
"Why, yes I DID boil that egg...all by myself."
"It's delicious!"

Oh to be appreciated by young minds who don't yet know the uncomplicated process of boiling an egg. I brought in some hard-boiled eggs so my kids at the Limes Program could learn how to dye the eggshells and decorate them for Easter. They told me they had never done this before or had even heard of it...to which I was in shock. Although I couldn't blame them because the tradition doesn't make much sense to me in the first place, but hey...it's fun and easy and they colored those eggs like it was nobody's business. And about 5 minutes after we had finished, a few of the boys couldn't wait any longer and cracked them open to eat.

Grensave's International Food & Drink Day

One of the NGO's I work with had their big annual fundraiser today, where there is live music, dancing, and booths representing countries from all over the world selling their local cuisine. I was in charge of coordinating the Children's Village outside and got some of the other PC volunteers to help me man the toy raffle, face painting, and Bouncy Castle...which was the biggest hit by far! I believe I heard the words "The Bouncy Castle is the greatest place in the world!" escape one child's mouth. We had a great turnout overall and made a great profit...thanks especially to giant inflatable structures.

Mustaches...they're not just for the French.

In honor of our friend Nicole's 25th birthday, we celebrated like normal grown-ups and had a "Mustache/ White Shirt & Sharpie" party. What does one do at this type of party, might you ask?
Rule #1. You must wear white in order for your friends to draw graffiti on you throughout the night.
Rule #2. You must come bearing a mustache...whether this be grown, drawn on, or attached somehow.

I opted for a creepy, curly 'stache similar to "V for Vendetta" and had it sketched on with eye liner. My friends had everything from the "Hitler patch" to the "Yosemite Sam" waterfalls of chin hair, which Lauren made with construction paper and taped to her face! We were classy, let me tell you!


Although this all lasted only about 30 minutes. I was standing still so someone could write on my back and so I asked Lauren if she could hand me some cake to tide me over (a girl's gotta eat). She saw this as a prime opportunity, and I don't blame her, to shove the ENTIRE piece of cake into my mouth and then smear the chocolate frosting all over my face...thus the food fight ensued! Let's just say one thing led to another and later we were cleaning cake and salsa dip and whatever else was once an appetizer, off every surface of the kitchen and living room. There was definitely cake on the ceiling too. It was fantastic! Although it does sadden me a little that so much perfectly good chocolate cake ended up on the floors rather than in my mouth.

AIDS doesn't discriminate...why do we?

This week I flew out to St. Lucia for an HIV/AIDS workshop funded by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, designed for some of the Peace Corps volunteers and our community partners who are working in the field of HIV awareness. Our facilitators were from all over the Caribbean and did an excellent job teaching and leading us in activities surrounding the topics of the biology of the virus, stigma & discrimination, prevention & intervention techniques, raising awareness, and planning specific projects for each of our communities. We also had 3 HIV+ guest speakers who bravely shared their stories with us and left some of us in tears. I was in awe of the bold approach they take on life and how they aren't afraid to speak out and be the face of HIV. HIV/AIDS is still such a fragile subject here and some have been practically ostracized from their friends and family once their status is made known, not to mention the treatment their children get, even though they made not be HIV+. All in all, the conference was exceptional and the trainers were great at what they do...very engaging and so much fun to learn from!



Then I got to spend the weekend with my good friends Lilly (a volunteer on St. Lucia) and Adam (St. Kitts & Nevis) down in Lilly's fishing village of Anse la Raye! We had so much fun just unwinding, cooking meals together, singing karaoke at the Fish Fry, hitting up the beach, and going on long walks. It was also great to see Lilly in her element with her community...teaching PE at the primary school, her daily walking club with whichever women and children want to come along, playing violin in her church, getting personal updates from her postman, and my all-time favorite...they have a town crier! You pay him a few bucks and at 5pm he starts ringing his cow bell and spreads the news! I love it! Needless to say, great times were had!

Happy Birthday Shereen!

One of my favorite girls from the Limes Program turned 18 this week! She's a huge support to me during classes and helps me keep the kids from causing too much destruction. They have to listen to her too because she's related to most of them and they'll have to answer to their mothers later if they misbehave, haha! So I took her out for ice cream on her birthday and then later we had a party at her house with the whole neighborhood. She pretends she's shy and avoids the camera at all cost (hence why she's not in many of these photos), but I got one of her!

Togas, Sailboats, & Beach Volleyball

Last night we had a Toga Party to celebrate the birthdays of Lauren, Rebecca, and Kris. It was really funny to see the assortment of sheets that everyone wore because I don't think one of us owns white sheets here. We also realized that it's our 6 MONTH ANNIVERSARY since joining the Peace Corps...can you believe it?! We all went around the circle and each made a heart-warming toast of our gratitude for one another.

The next morning we peeled ourselves out of bed and all went to Grand Anse Beach to watch the Annual Sailing Regatta. There were dozens of colorful boats, food vendors, and live music everywhere you looked. I also met up with some of my volleyball friends and played 4-on-4 for hours, which was exhilarating! And I'm pretty sure I took half the beach home in my bathing suit.

Tufton Hall Waterfalls

Today Kris and I hiked up to Tufton Hall Waterfalls in Victoria, and it was quite the all day event. The first part was hiking up the hills and through the bush to get to the river, and then the rest was climbing up a series of smaller waterfalls (and I say smaller only in comparison to Tufton itself). Kris had done the hike a few times already and wanted to make it as challenging as possible for me (thanks buddy), so we were literally climbing through the cascading water at times. My little arms got quite the workout.

Oh, and I think Kris would agree with me on the highlight of the hike:

I was pretty giddy since we were almost to the big falls, and I saw this big branch hanging across 2 rocks and thought it would be fun to swing on. So I jumped up and grabbed on with both hands...bad idea. What I didn't know is that the branch had wood rot. *cracking sound and Rachel down* The branch snapped like a twig and I fell right on my butt in the water! It was pretty funny because the minute I grabbed on, I felt it give way, but it was already too late...

And of course this is the one time Kris is behind me and sees the whole thing. He was worried that I broke my tailbone, but I think all I damaged was my pride. We couldn't stop laughing about it later.

Dear Miss Rachel

One of my 10 year-old girls at the Limes Program gave me a letter today (along with a picture of Michael Jordan...?) that made me realize this is where I'm supposed to be.

Dear Miss Rachel,
How are you and I hope you are fine and I hope I will love you and love you forever. I don’t care what people say. I love you and Miss Simon and Miss Hopkin because when I did not have any books in my bag is what you give me, books and growing. While all you getting old and I will study the kindness you do for me and I will never forget all you.
Ezra

Obviously blogging wasn't my New Year's Resolution.

2008 has begun in a whirlwind as we all met with our community partners to discuss the details of our job descriptions, marking the ending of our Integration Phase and moving into the "real deal"...which partly worries me because then what does that say about what I've done so far? But no bother, I am working with some fantastic women and am very optimistic about what lies ahead. And together, we have an assortment of projects lined up that will keep even MY itchy feet from going anywhere.

One of them being the Health Fairs held every Saturday in a different town where medical clinics aren't available, run by Dr. Szauer (who began the prison HIV program) and my main community partner Ann Hopkin...who somehow manage to do these free clinics in their "spare time." I couldn't ask for 2 more dynamic women...they are like the Odd Couple meets Laverne & Shirley. They never cease to inspire me or make me laugh! For now, I have the all-important job of measuring and weighing the patients (and practicing my tactful responses when they ask me if they're overweight). I can't seem to keep myself together enough to prick fingers (or "jook" as they say here) at the blood sugar station as of yet, but someday I'm hoping to work my way up the ranks.

Happy New Year's 2008!

I can't tell you how excited I was to find out Grenada has fireworks! And not a bad showing for such a small island either. My friends and I enjoyed the pyrotechnics as we sat on top of Fort George, drank some champagne, shared our New Year's resolutions, and then danced in the open courtyard as the rain ushered in the new year.

And all that jazz!

Our friend and former Peace Corps trainer Eugene put together a huge Christmas jazz concert at the new nightclub in St. George's and asked a few of us to help him out. We took tickets and greeted the guests for the first hour, but then got to sit back and enjoy the music. Just another day in the Peace Corps, right? It was such a refreshing change to hear classical instruments (compared to the Soca music here) and hear some old familiar tunes.

Then this weekend I went camping with some of my Grenadian friends at Window Beach, a gorgeous location on the east coast and right next to one of my favorite spots on the island (the Arch...where I like to run around and pretend I'm Maria from Sound of Music). I also ate SHARK for the first time! Who knew a predator could taste so delicious?

Happy Boxing Day!

Hands down, this was the most relaxing December I've ever had. It wasn't until later that I realized this sensation was due to the complete absence of frantic shopping rampages that take over our lives the day after Thanksgiving. This year, all we bought was food and that was more than enough time spent waiting in line. And due to the lack of public transportation during the holidays, my friends and I spent 4 straight days together (which is actually a long time when you're used to living on your own). We played card games, did crossword puzzles & sudoku, drank hot chocolate with marshmallows, watched movies, read our books, did facial peels, played frisbee, and even did yoga so we weren't completely lazy. Did I mention this was all in 85 degree weather surrounded by palm trees? Your typical Christmas, right? Yet if I had to spend another Christmas away from home, I couldn't have asked for a better way to do it. And no tears were shed!