My big project for this last term has been doing condom demonstrations in all of the classrooms. I luckily got in touch with a woman who works with the District Health Team in Molepolole (my district’s main village) and she hooked me up with a model penis, model vagina, and male and female condoms to use in the demonstrations.
Once I had the supplies, I got right to work. There are seventeen classes at my school (meaning close to 700 students) and I needed at least two periods with each class. Due to other projects I was working on, it wasn’t as simple as just going to all the guidance classes. I had to figure out when I would be at school and when I would make up any classes I missed, as well as working around different examinations given by the school. Also, the schedule has up to three guidance classes during the same period, despite the fact that we have only one guidance teacher. Go figure.
For the male condom, my counterpart and I made signs with each of the steps to using a condom on them. One side had English, and one had Setswana. I was adamant about teaching this in Setswana, because incorrect condom use is a common occurrence. We would have eight students come up and give them the signs randomly, and they had to work together to put the signs in the correct order. I definitely have not reached fluency, but I think now knowing how to explain condom use ka Setswana is a good start.
After initially learning the steps, I would go over them again while demonstrating using a condom and the model penis. (I taught over a constant stream of giggles – mostly from the boys, ironically enough.) I would then have one boy and one girl demonstrate, although if no one volunteered, I didn’t push it. It was really important to me to create a safe, comfortable environment so kids will stop being so scared to talk about sex and ask those really important questions.
And boy, do the kids have questions. It was wonderful to see them opening up to me, and to know that I was helping to dispel some common myths. Some things the students believe I expected to hear – condoms aren’t reliable, real men don’t use condoms, if you use a condom you won’t feel anything. But other myths are truly astounding – condoms have worms in them that make you sick, the U.S. sends over condoms with HIV in it to try to wipe out African races, if you have sex with a girl on her period her vagina will bite you.
The following class I demonstrated how to use the female condom, which also got plenty of laughs. Although I don’t believe many women use the female condom, there is a lot of interest in it, which is great. I didn’t have enough female condoms for any students to also try, so after demonstrating and having a Q&A session we discussed different forms of birth control.
Most students had heard of the condoms, the pill, IUD, and injections (and, of course, abstinence). Interestingly, almost every class also offered sterilization as a method of birth control. While that’s true, I thought it was strange that students so young would have sterilization on the forefront of their minds.
We then reviewed bad forms of birth control, many of which the students believe to be effective:
- “Pulling out,” or withdrawing before ejaculation
- Having sex during the woman’s menstruation cycle
- “Safe period,” which means having sex during the five days after a woman menstruates. They believe that since the woman is not ovulating, there is a zero percent chance of her getting pregnant, and this is taught in science classes. I emphasized that while it is not likely, it is still a possibility, and condoms/birth control should still be used.
- Sex positions – i.e. if a woman is on top, gravity will keep the sperm from reaching the egg
- Different methods from traditional doctors
It was encouraging to see how engaged some of the students were. It made me feel as if I actually was making a difference in their lives, and that being informed will help at least a few students make better choices. After a year and a half of ambiguous reporting to Peace Corps, it’s a great feeling to know I have solid numbers (I’ve reached 680 youth this quarter!) to send to Washington, D.C.
More than just helping the students, it was a small epiphany for myself. I loved doing these classes, and I’m already in the process of putting together sex education curriculum for next year. After feeling somewhat irrelevant for a lot of my service, I’m getting excited again, and perhaps my interest and passion can guide my career choices when I get home in June.
