To keep you from thinking that Sara and I only goofed around and floated ditches in Cashapampa and Huaripampa this last month, I feel obligated to submit the following video evidence of our successful Pasos Adelante youth group, which ended on the 3rd of this month with a graduation ceremony and a march through town in honor of Worlds AIDS Day (December 1st). The march also focused on promoting awareness of AIDS prevention, and discrimination of those people living with HIV/AIDS. The video, made by Sara, is 7 plus minutes and shows us teaching, the kids acting out skits (effects of alcohol), the kids receiving eggs (as mock children for a week so they had to go get to know the health post, as well as learn the responsibility of having an egg), a tree planting session Sara did with them, and finally our graduation and town march.
This short video is basically all of our Huaripampa work starting in April and ending in December (wow, it's kinda depressing when I think about it like that). At about five minutes in, you'll see signs the kids made for their march through town. They did this on their own, and think they deserve credit for the time and thought they put into them; however, I know that about 369,584 of my 100,000+ followers don't actually speak/read Spanish very well, so check out my little video guide at the bottom of the post.
The songs used in video are copy written, so I'm not sure what youtube will do about this. Hope this works:
Peace Corps Pasos Adelante and World AIDS day in Huaripamapa, Ancash, Peru.
The songs used in video are copy written, so I'm not sure what youtube will do about this. Hope this works:
Peace Corps Pasos Adelante and World AIDS day in Huaripamapa, Ancash, Peru.
Video Guide:
0:00 - 0:25 Skits showing the effects of booze (physically, psychologically, and behaviorally).
0:25 - 0:45 Me acting like Mr.Cool Teacher (sometimes it's tough to watch yourself on video) during a game the kids played where they needed to kick people out of a 'life-raft', based on their specific roles, age, gender, and sexual orientation (i.e. 100 year old nun vs. a pregnant 15 year old girl with AIDS vs. the 45 year old ship captain who is gay).
0:45-0:58 The girls and boys working in groups listing the ideal traits that they'd like their future partners to have. This is a good way to talk about abstinence, as well as machismo.
0:58 - 1:03 Me, probably confusing the heck out of them.
1:03 - 1:26 Playing a game where the students need to place specific traits as either being a male characteristic, a female characteristic, or something both sexes/genders have (who... cries? is strong? sings? has a long hair? has a penis? etc.)
1:26 - 1:40 The day Emily (our former PCV Leader), Sara, and I gave the kids their eggs to take care of for a week. Note how two of the kids came back at the end of the week with clothing made for their eggs.
1:46 - 2:15 Seeing what the kids knew about HIV and AIDS before teaching them. This was our way of seeing what myths existed and what they already knew.
2:15 - 2:30 Sara explaining how the body looses white blood cells (nature's bodyguards). Then me explaining the latency period of HIV after contact/risky behaviors.
2:30 - 3:09 More alcohol skits.
3:10 - 3:30 The student making their posters to present to the rest of the school during a class lead school presentation about the AIDS and the need to protect yourself.
3:30 - 3:50 Our class presenting their posters and video to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.
3:50 - 4:55 Sara and the kids getting outside and planting some trees around the school.
4:55 - 5:06 Sara and I closing the class with a graduation ceremony.
5:05 The start of the some of the signs the kids made for the World AIDS day march.
5:06 "I protect myself from HIV/AIDS by practicing the ABCs"
5:10 "Alert! Peru is one of the countries with the most AIDS carriers"(let's put an asterisk next to this)
5:15 "International Fight Against AIDS Day... Prevent HIV... Test Yourself... It's free"
5:19 "When you give a kiss, there is a 0% chance of getting AIDS"
5:23 "Preventing AIDS is in your hands, take the HIV test"
5:27 - 5:38 The students receiving their certificates.
5:39 The start of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders World AIDS Day March.
5:58 Me showing a little showing a little frustration on how long it took for the teachers to get the kids lined up and walking.
6:09 The march arriving to the plaza de armas (town center) in Huaripampa. Peach and Sara leading the way.
6:26 Sara shaking the Mayor's hand after he came out to give the kids a short speech and buy everyone a soda and some crackers.
6:29 The Mayor's speech.
6:35 The Huaripampa Health Post Personnel giving a talk to the kids about AIDS, and AIDS prevention.
6:39 The health post personnel and Maximo (far left) at the end of the march. Maximo was a super star teacher all year, and deserves a ton of thanks from Sara and I.
6:40 - 7:01 Shots from the march and finally our whole class.
