World AIDs Day

"I walked the avenue till my legs felt like stone
I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone
At night I could hear the blood in my veins
Black and whispering as the rain." --Springsteen, Streets of Philadelphia

On Saturday December 5, 2009, three Peace Corps Volunteers and 16 sixth grade students hosted an HIV/AIDs awareness event in the village of N. Aurora.

My last trip into the city in November was stressful. Catherine and myself had two and a half days to buy everything we needed for the World AIDs Day event. We ran around town buying t-shirts and other visuals for the event. The most stressful and unfortunately memorable moment of my trip to the city was when I got lost looking for the National AIDs Programme building, the place where I'd be given 600+ condoms to distribute amongst the village of N. Aurora. While looking for the building, I happened to walk right past it and into an AIDs treatment center. I'll never forget the looks of the faces on the people in the waiting room, their eyes full of despair while waiting to be tested for HIV. It brought on a whole new meaning to the work I was doing with these kids.

As for the AIDs day itself, it was an interesting event since we were dependent on the 6th graders to run the show. It was far from a success by American standards, but it was probably a success by local standards. We had 100% attendance and participation by the 6th graders which was my biggest fear and the sound board showed up only 30 minutes late, only minor details in this Peace Corps job. The event itself was fun to watch unfold. We started out by passing out pieces of yarn with a red bead to all those in attendance. This was a visual to unite our audience for the AIDs day and was very popular. Then, the kids did four skits and a few raps about how to prevent HIV. We had not been able to practice with microphones before this day because the electricity is so sporadic in this village so this added a bit of uncertainty to the event. Then, in the middle of the skits and raps, the kids--in charge of the soundboard, decided to throw on some dance music and improve a dance.
This left the Peace Corps Volunteers flabergasted and slightly amused, I think everyone else in attendance was just confused though. We wrapped up on stage with the kids receiving certificates from the Peace Corps staff who were in attendance. Finally, the volunteers in attendance passed out condoms to the villagers. People were happy to receive the condoms but a bit upset they could only get 9. They told us that 9 condoms would only last them 3 days--I'll be bringing back 1152 male condoms to the river next week.

In review, the World AIDs day event went about as smoothly as we could expect. Hopefully those in attendance will remember our event when they see a kid or a volunteer walking around the village sporting a red bead which were still being worn a week after the event. But most importantly, we got through to sixteen 6th graders whom I'm hoping won't ever have to sit in a room and be tested for HIV because they know how to prevent it.

Peace Corps goes to the zoo

Chris, Ian, Cam, James
"You guys are a bunch of jackasses" --10 year old bully

It's the holiday season in Suriname and the greater majority of volunteers are in the city, Paramaribo, for the holidays either getting ready to go back to America for Christmas or getting ready for the big New Year's Eve party that will grace the streets of Paramaribo and is rumored to rival the fireworks display along the 880 in Oakland--I'll believe it when I see it. But before we bid adeui to some of our fellow volunteers bound for the greater 50 States, particularly those headed for the granite state which is home of the purple finch--yes I'm talking about the fair state of New Hampshire, we are up to no good in the city.

Yesterday, four of us--Ian, Cameron, James the Suriname Ambassador for New Hampshire, and myself, went to the zoo. For those not picking up on the New Hampshire jokes, there are four volunteers from New Hampshire in Peace Corps Suriname which is a disproportionate 10% of our American volunteer population here. They swear it is the most wicked best place ever and James has convinced at least half the volunteers to move there after service.

After another morning of banana pancakes at Ian's house, Cameron convinced us to go to the zoo. He had been there the day before, by himself, and convinced Ian, James and I--it's not a tall feat to convince us by any means, that we needed to explore this magical place. After paying 5 SRD, about a 1.75 USD equivalent, we gained admission into the zoo and were eager to begin our adventure. We quickly spotted the monkeys.

We also spotted an oversized Goodyear tire and thought it would be appropriate to do hand stands on it. What else would you use a big tire like this for? After the tire swing we decided to head to the petting zoo portion where we petted a donkey and James gave a cow a kiss. Earlier, we had looked into the anaconda display and had not been able to see it. While at the petting zoo, we noticed it was hiding on the backside of its display. It was a big one (that's what she said). After the petting zoo, we decided to make our first of three appearances at the playground. The animals could wait for a sweet tire zip line. Unfortunately this is where we met the 10-year old heckler, he picked on us the rest of the day. Here is Cameron ready to go down the zip-line. And here's me upside-down on the monkey bars. Then, because there are no railroad tracks in Suriname, the only train in Suriname passed us on the road, blasting gangster rap music, carrying its passengers all under the age of six. Then we saw something really strange, a caged tree! Apparently it's dangerous. And a cool ant-eater. Then Cam tried to make friends with an ostrich...where did this ostrich come from!? After checking out some sweet tigers and heckling an out-of-shape jaguar the mid-day rainy season rains decided to come out. So we found a gazebo and took a quick cat nap. After the rains stopped and we woke up from our naps we felt rejuvenated. And since the heckler kid was busy harrassing an enormous crocile, we felt it would be the perfect time to go back to the playground and do this! After entertaining the kids for at least an hour we were able to convince one of the birthday parties to paint our faces. Hence, the first picture up above. Eventually, we would show up at a fancy dinner party later that night still donning our face paint. We don't expect to be invited to anything formal again for the next 2 years. And this was our big day at the zoo. This is how four Peace Corps Volunteers spent their day at the office on Saturday, December 19, 2009, promoting the second goal of Peace Corps: Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served. Minus the poor form we displayed on the teeter-totter, I think we did a good job. Finally, I leave you with a video that sums up the day well.