Clubs

I’m back with secondary students and it feels great. I was privileged enough to help two clubs out this week and hope to be able to do so every week. Tuesdays is the anti-SIDA club. SIDA is the French acronym for AIDS. The club serves as a way to educate young people and helps reduce their risky behavior. It offers great health information as well as a way to get their personal questions answered. This week Edison and I tackled the difficult subject of love, romance and making the personal decision of whether sex is the next step in your relationship. They wanted to know how to show love without having sex. Now imagine that conversation with a group of 50 secondary students, in another language. Luckily we have a great translator, a student who happens to excel in English. We covered the range of emotional support in relationships, physical affection that doesn’t involve the risk of contracting AIDS, having open and honest communication, reasons for having sex, not breaking down to peer pressure, prioritizing your goals in life and realizing what behavior is too risky. All within an hour! It was great. The students were able to ask specific questions and challenge us with realistic struggles they face.

The most heartbreaking moment was during the discussion of why people have sex. We had already laid out the curiosity, pleasure, to make babies arguments. A girl in the front row raised her hand and said – to get money. The sugar mama/sugar daddy phenomena is a huge problem in Rwanda. Many adolescents cannot afford school so they sell their bodies for sex in order to afford school fees. It is such a noble cause but such a horrendous predicament. Many of the children are placing themselves at a huge risk for becoming HIV positive or getting pregnant all because they want an education and a chance at a better future.

(The second club I attended was the English club. It’s for any student that wants to improve their English. I’m sure I’ll have some funny stories as time goes on…)