3.30.08 Abstinence, Wendy’s & Swimming

Sunday marked my half way point of FBT which I am pretty surprised about. These past 3 weeks have flown by, especially compared to the weeks spent in Santa Lucia! I had a good weekend…hung out with my sobrinos a lot…I really adore them and am determined to steal them for a weekend when I am living at my site so they can come stay with me. So last week ended quickly, we spent Thursday and Friday talking about the Abstinence initiative and doing some practiums surrounding it. Now, I definitely had a preconceived [negative] notion of abstinence education. Having received abstinence education in school and also my experience as a health educator has taught me that it is not only ineffective, but also unrealistic. However, I can honestly say that my mind has been changed after listening to the A-Team [as they call themselves] talk about the initiative. It is geared towards girls who are 10-14 and doesn’t exclude girls that have already had sex but wish to be abstinent. There are a total of 13 lessons that can be given once a week and while the first one focuses on abstinence, the rest are about empowerment and self-esteem. It’s a really positive program and I even think I might want to do it at my site. I was very impressed with the work they have done and the new spin they have put on abstinence education. In a country that is so machismo at times and where a lot of girls only look for a husband so they can start having kids, there need to be more programs like this one to led young girls know that they have other options.
Saturday all of us plied into a van and took the short trip to Tegucigalpa to do immigration paperwork. We got to be reunited with the other 2 projects, which was nice. I spent the majority of the time talking with Luis, the training site director in Santa Lucia and we had a really nice conversation. So I will have a national ID card and be officially Honduran sometime this week! Yay! Then we got to eat at Wendy’s which was completely glorious. When I got home, I immediately changed and went to the river to swim with my niece and nephew. We had such a good time, the water felt so good because it was =so= hot that day. I am trying to teach Karen how to swim so that is fun. At one point, I was listening to music on Josue’s cell phone and this song I love [el cielo esta llorando] came on and Karen and I were dancing and singing and I realized in that moment how beautiful and precious the little things in life are. I am happy and every day that I spend here is such a blessing.