TravelStream™ news feed for member ymca on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/ymca en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:17:11 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1171389300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1171389300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1171389300/tpod.html Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:17:11 -0400 Sam Jenson, Cindy Escobar and Dana Young off to Benin, Africa.

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Porto Novo, Benin

Hello everyone,

First thanks to all of you who have written its nice to hear from you....your comments makes all of us feel a little closer to home. keep them coming.....

So an update.....

The group has been split up in two parts 6 in Cotonu and 5 in Porto Novo. Us splitting up was always known but we didn't know who was going where to the night before. Splitting up was a little difficult becasue we had just spent two weeks straight together and the group that stayed in Cotonu thought they were going to Porto Novo and vice a versa. Where the groups ended up was descided by the fact that the 4 people from YCI had in thier contract stated that they can not ride on motorcycle. Well I guess YCI didn't realise that in Benin tourists main and only form of transportation is taxi motos, or as they are known here 'kekenon'. So at first they thought Porto Novo would be best for them since they may be able to walk everywhere or get a taxi more easily but in fact in ended up being the reverse. No car taxi is availabe in Porto Novo so YMCA and Club 2/3 participants are mainly here in Porto Novo. Sam from YMCA is no longer with Dana and I, they wanted to keep the groups a little balanced with different organizations. So the new Porto Novo group is the following: Alexander, Olivier, Genevieve, Dana and Me (Cindy)!

If you havn't caught on by the names my group has 3 francophones so Dana and I will be definitly only ever be speaking french! It gets a little frustrating sometimes as I can't express myself the way I would like however, I'm definitly improving my french! Im also glad their here because all the work we do is in french and I'm positive the quality of the work without them would not be the same.

On Wednesday we arrived in Porto Novo, met our families, and met the mangement staff of Action Social. The executive Director of Action Social is Eugene. He's an awsome man, very friendly, seems kind and very in-tune with the community he works with. I can tell he is loved by his staff. He took us out on Wed for dinner and has been a awsome host since. Thursday he spent all day trucking us around to ensure we called home, changed money, learned where the good internet cafe is and ingeneral has talked to us about Porto Novo and Benin issues. We are quite happy as many of us felt that this was something that should have been done with us in Cotonu. So as you can imagine I feel more at ease here. It also helps that it isn't as polluted or congested, so the climate is much more tolorable.

The family Im staying with is great! Mireille(25) is the young lady that is hosting me, she works for the childrens office of Action social. In my host family I live with her mother Damienne, Alain (20 yrs), Nicole (15yrs). Their brother Joseph is on holidays here with his family of 3 for the next two weeks, generally he lives in Nigeria. Joseph has a little baby named Winnans who is 4 months old and hes adorable! Its exciting to have him here as its preparing me for my future nephew; So as you see I'm in a big family but everyone of them is very hospitable and nice. Its nice that I have young family members as it gives me a chance to learn about what the Benin youth do and think.

My room is fairly comfortable, I will try to post a picture sometime soon however the bathroom is definitely different and requires some getting used to. The food continues to be not much of a problem for me however I miss eating rice. Generally sidedishes are mashed Maise or yams with sauce. I learned yesterday rice is much more expensive here. Haven't really been sick yet, however I am home sick!

So what are we doing? Really its only become clear this week. We will be part of a youth forum for youth aganist AIDS and HIV that will take place during the week of Feb 19 when the youth are on a break. Our job is to speak to the principals and recruit the kids for the forum. On Sat. Feb.17 we will meet with the Beninois youth against AIDS group to learn more about AIDS and Benioise beleifs. There will also be an AIDS conference in mid March that our group will help plan and execute. Thats an overall summary of what we're doing, but there is much more. Our work day usually starts at 8:30 or 9 am till 1pm. Then we start again at 3 or 4 till 6pm.

An important message to relay is that communication here (cell phones, internet, home phones, computer keyboards) are in no ways the same!. Everything takes twice as long if not more!!!! frustrating!!!!Anyways hope everyone is well and hope to write again soon.

Cindy
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1173364560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1173364560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1173364560/tpod.html Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:09:03 -0400 Sam Jenson, Cindy Escobar and Dana Young off to Benin, Africa.

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Porto Novo, Benin

I was very happy to learn we would be celebrating International Women's Day at Action Sociale as it is something very relevant here and something I've participated in at home. The staff and interns gathered in the classroom upstairs at Action Sociale Thursday morning and Eugène began by giving a brief overview of Women's Day, its importance and the theme of equality (men/women). He talked of the development of women, of waking those who are "asleep" and helping them be seen as more than just objects to be manipulated. He highlighted the importance of training and education so that women can participate in improving the country. This also requires speaking with the men and imcreasing their awareness; that women are just as capable and have the right to work, the right to be something. It was also clarified that this didn't mean the "elimination" of men, but working together for a common goal. Action Sociale works at this everyday with the computer/administration courses, the microfinance and with orphans.

From this point the women were each asked to speak and make one committment to improve the lives of women. We also wanted to hear from the men, however it was very important that the women spoke first as there is often a reluctance (or perhaps understanding) to speak among men here.

This is what some the staff had to say:

(women)
- Education and socialization are very important; women have the same needs as men. Culturally (Bénin), women are made to have children, to clean, get water and wood... An educated women can take better care of her children. This staff was happy for this day, the fact that it exists shows there is hope.
- Some men don't like when women work (outside the home), especially in the smaller villages. She thought a good place to start was to help raise awareness among men.
- Encourage girls to go to school.

(men)
- One staff was raised by his mother and they were very poor. All the boys and girls in his family received the same education. From this he appreciates the need to respect women.
- Women are something very important, that we need to respect.
- Can start at home by letting women know that they can do all the things men can do, to encourage them to become what they want.

Personally, I think education is key to improving the quality of life for women, and the society as a whole. For this reason I committed to finding resources to help girls go to school, to be able to find work, think independently and be self-sufficient.

I unfortunately don't have any statistics on men, but the female illiteracy rate is very high:76%. The rate of girls attending primary education is 58% and secondary studies is only 12%!! One of the main reasons for this is that the parents lack the financial resources to send their children to school, to purchase the necessary supplies or the skills to help them with their work. Financial problems are often due to the fact that one of the parents is deceased and so you can see that one problem is often the result of another, which is the result of another here- a vicious cycle. Action Sociale tries very hard to target as many of these problems as possible.

The morning was wrapped up by stating that International Women's Day is not just March 8th, but a daily fight! Wishing everyone a Happy Women's Day!

(Check out the pictures showing Beninese women doing various roles)

Dana
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1173708060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1173708060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1173708060/tpod.html Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:06:12 -0400 Sam Jenson, Cindy Escobar and Dana Young off to Benin, Africa.

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Porto Novo, Benin

On Monday we were able to visit an example of a microfinance supported by Action Sociale (AS). It is important to realize that these projects supported by AS are family operations, containing anywhere from 5-10 people, called a 'groupement'. Ideally these groupements work together, up to 25 groups working on similar projects. The group we visited was an example of 'produits machelle' or everything from the garden. They grew manioc to make a course type of flour, called garie, crushed tomatoes (paste), red oil (this is from palm nuts), corn flour and wine/alcohol made from palm.

What was particularly interesting about our visit was that we were able to see the entire process. For those unfamiliar with manioc it is a long, skinny root vegetable, although the "leaves/stalk" looks more like a small tree. (imagine the leafy part of a carrot standing at least 6 feet in the air!) You can tell when the manioc is ready because the leaves on the stalk will be large. Once it is picked the skin is cut off before it is run through a mill. The next step is drying the manioc flour, which is done by pressing it for 2 days then letting it stand in the sun. The last step is heating it over a fire, and voilà, you have garie. When you add water to garie it expands, so you wouldn't want to eat too much of it dry then drink a lot of water!

The group sells these items at nearby markets. Each village and city has a 'big' market day although there is usually something to be found on any given day. I live near Marché Ouando (the large market of Porto Novo) and its always open- even late at night people will be there with their tiny oil lamps.

The process for funding is typically as follows:
The family will approach AS or AS might already be involved with their family through the various other needs they serve.
1) training: how to run a group
2) management of resources
3) how to open an account
4) identify the needs of the group

Once funding has been approved, Thomas, the staff who runs the microfinance program will have several meetings with the group to determine if they are reliable, if they have a good plan in place. They will exchange ideas, discuss their difficulties and get help from Thomas. Also he tries to get other groups to help one another. Once they have followed through on their plan they will get further funding to continue. This is renewable every 6 months for 1-2 years.

Another area currently receiving funding is 'haute couture' or clothing. Unlike home there are few ready to wear clothes available, but instead clothes are custom-made. Groups will get funding for sewing machines (which by the way are the treddle kind) and can hire people to help them. Both women and men participate in haute couture and make some very elaborate items.

New this year Action Sociale hopes to become involved in livestock. Action Sociale will have a specialist in the field come and do a training to help them determine their needs and how to run this sort of group. It will include: pigs, rabbits, chickens, eggs and agouti (need to look that one up).

Hope to add pictures soon.

Dana
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1173126540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1173126540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1173126540/tpod.html Thu, 05 Apr 2007 12:57:48 -0400 Sam Jenson, Cindy Escobar and Dana Young off to Benin, Africa.

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Porto Novo, Benin

Hello Everyone,

I think its important we share a little about who we are partnered with in Porto Novo, Benin. The organisation is called Action Sociale and its an NGO (non-governmental organisation). The organisation office is in Porto Novo however they do their work all across Benin. They serve the community of Benin in various aspects, training oppotunities such as an adminstration tranining centre, place for college Beninoise to do internships, microfinacing for families...but I would like to share with you is my experince with their work in aiding orphaned children.

What is considred to be an orphan in Benin is different from Canada. If you have lost even 1 parent you are considered an orphan. This definition for orphans is rooted in tradition where only those who have lost a parent 'an orphan' can play the drum that announces a death(or what is more readibly belived here, when the soul has moved to another place). Its known as the Orphan's drum and its long and tall. Only orphans who have lost both parents can play with both hands. Those who lost just a father play the drum with their right hand and those who lost a mother play with their left hand. Its forbidden for a non-orphan to play the death drum as it is belived you will shorten the life of your parents by doing so.

So back to the NGO...they work with orphaned children and their families who are considered to be at high risk as a result of the loss of a parent. Those who have lost their fathers generally are more high risk then those families that lose a mother because fathers tend to be the sole or main financial contributors to the family and are more likely to re-marry. Generally, the NGO learns of orphaned families by the hospitals who notifies them when they feel that a family is likely to be in need of assistance. When they learn about a new orpahan a visit is arranged and an assessment is done on the families ability ot provide and support the orphaned children in all aspects:food, shelter, clothing, education, health...ect. Unfortunaly, because the spread of HIV/AIDS is high among the poorest of society and is who is most vulnerable to die from this virus is how this NGO ends up dealing with many families affected by HIV/AIDS. So, its likely when doing a first visit the assessment will include asking the entire family to take an ELISA test (HIV/AIDS test) if the deceased was +ve. If the spouse(s) are found to be ill then their medical costs will be considered in the overall assessment, ensuring their well being is also taken into consideration. In general the assessment looks at the family as a whole, determines their needs and makes a plan of action on how long the NGO will be invloved to ensure all membes of the family can be selfsufficent and reliant.

When doing assessments of families affected by AIDS getting them to take the test can be a great challenge. Some families do not see the urgency or need to take the test either because they dont belive their family member died from AIDS or they dont have a good enough understanding about HIV transmission to think they are at risk. In addition, the threat of death is not as grave as we North Americans perceive it to be, for them death is just another stage of life. Therefore, using the possibility of dying as a motivator to take the test is not always affective. The other challenge is the high illiteracy rate in Benin that affects their ability to understand how such a virus exists and can impact them. In addition, there is a greater tendency to believe in voodoo like religions among the illiterate so geting ill to them is more spiritual, greater then them and destiny.

As part of the learning expereince here we get to go with the outreach workers on their site visits. The site visits can include going to the orphans home, school, Dr. apointments, community meetings, traning workshops... During one of my visits I met a little girl who is 8 yrs old, both her parents died from AIDS and now lives with her Grandma. She is HIV positive, has a hearing problem from birth and because of this has never been to school. She is not aware she is ill becuse the outreach worker does not feel she is capable of understanding, which worries me because then she doesnt know to be careful either. Its so sad and its real. There are many children in thes types of situations here today and although the NGO has only been around 8yrs there are many children who have benefited from their aid.

To learn more about Action Sociale please visit the site however it is in french only at the moment:http://www.actionsociale.org

Cindy
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1171815060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1171815060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1171815060/tpod.html Thu, 05 Apr 2007 12:45:13 -0400 Sam Jenson, Cindy Escobar and Dana Young off to Benin, Africa.

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Porto Novo, Benin

Transportation is always a bit of an adventure here! Taxi-moto or zém is the main-only form of transportation. In Cotonou these are easily recognized by their yellow shirts with a number on the back, however in Porto Novo they don't wear anything identifiable. To find one you can wave your hand or call kékénon. They only stop if they're a zém.

From this point I have to describe where I want to go (literally). For example to go home I say I live in quartier djirado (past ouando market) near the mosque across from the car wash! Often the zém will say they know how to get there, but this isn't always the case. Just about every night last week I was at least a bit lost. It's particularly hard to find your way when the power has gone out.

Before getting on a moto you need to establish the price of your ride (barter). Being yovo requires a bit more effort to get a reasonable price. Sometimes en route your moto will stop for gas, however the gas stations here are very different from home. They are roadside stands with gas in bottles and jars. The gas gets poured through a cloth and funnel.

After this the GO train seems a bit dull :)

Dana
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1172844120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1172844120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1172844120/tpod.html Thu, 05 Apr 2007 12:38:46 -0400 Sam Jenson, Cindy Escobar and Dana Young off to Benin, Africa.

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Grand Popo, Benin

Last weekend the Porto Novo group spent a relaxing weekend in Grand Popo at a hotel (a cute little bungalow) on the beach. The waves were too strong to swim or really even walk in the water, but we could still cool off in the pool. This was a nice little taste of home with familiar food (steak,potatoes,curry shrimp...) and a peaceful atmosphere.

On Sunday we met up with the Cotonou group in Ouidah. Ouidah is known as the point of no return during the time of slavery. First we visited the musée historique then we walked the 4km to the point of no return- it was hot!!! Along the way there were some interesting statues and plaques with information. From Ouidah we took a bus back to Cotonou- imagine a large full size van with 27 people in it!

Once back in Porto Novo people asked about our weekend and all were interested to know if we visited the python temple (which we didn't as we ran out of time). I was surprised there wasn't more local interest in the point of no return due to its historical significance. One person told me that it wasn't a happy memory, whereas the python temple is exciting. All in all it was a very nice weekend.

-Dana
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1172762940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1172762940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1172762940/tpod.html Thu, 05 Apr 2007 12:34:57 -0400 Sam Jenson, Cindy Escobar and Dana Young off to Benin, Africa.

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Grand Popo, Benin

This weekend we went to Grand Popo a more touristic place in South Benin that has really beautiful beaches and it was great! I had a North American bedroom, washroom and ate North American type cooking. It was a little expensive for here but well worth it. Spending the weekend there gave me the energy and push I needed to keep going for another month.

We also visited Ouidha which is the town where the slaves were traded and shipped off. Its called the "place of no return". We visted the museum and all the historical landmarks that shows the slave trade in Benin. Benin is known to have been the main slave exporters to Brazil, Haiti, Cuba and United States. I dont know if I've mentioned but there is a huge salsa culture here. Aparently the Cuban and Brazilian slaves after some generations returned when slavery ended and brought back some of the culture they learned abroad, such as Salsa. The salsa is a bit slower then Colombian salsa but its quite good and they dance very well here. One of the famouse salsa singers in Benin is Petite Megalito. For those of you who have programs to look up music can look him up and listen to the sounds of Benin.

Will post pics when the computer works faster then it has today!

Cindy
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1173522360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1173522360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1173522360/tpod.html Thu, 05 Apr 2007 12:30:27 -0400 Sam Jenson, Cindy Escobar and Dana Young off to Benin, Africa.

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Porto Novo, Benin

Saturday March 10th was the Conference and it was a great sucess! The plan was to have at least 500 Beninoise youth attend and we estimated there were a little over a 1000 participants! We are all very proud of the outcome of the event. There were quiet a few youth that arrived early, which in Benin is not the norm, so seeing this confirmed for us that people were genuinely interested and excited to be there.

All performances went pretty much as planned: A theatrical play by 'les cauris de la capitale', a sketch by 'Club de jeunes contre le VIH/SIDA du Lycée Béhanzin, musical performances by 'Emotion X' and 'MDOD'and of course a discussion/presentation by the executive director Eugene Aguemon of the ONG 'Action Sociale'.

Throughout the event the youth were happy and excited. The energy was great but sometimes a little too overwhelming. During the conference we had two HIV/AIDS info booths set up where we along with the pair educators(PE) handed out pamphlets and free condoms after demonstrations or little lessons. However, the one lesson we learned is free things in Benin are a rare and when there is an opportunity to get something no matter what it is they want it. There were youth squeezzing and pushing to get in line for pamphlets, brochures, condoms...half the time I felt they didnt even know what they were struggling to be in line for but, they knew it was free and they wanted it! However the important thing is hundreds of youth listened and spoke to the PE about HIV/AIDS and walked away with valuable info to reflect back on.

At the end of the conference we handed out a few door prizes which included YMCA t-shirts and tatoos, these too went over very well. Lots of kids left the conference stamped with the YMCA logos on their arms, legs, cheecks...the YMCA of GTA was definitly 'connecting' this Saturday afternoon.

Cindy
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1172758740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1172758740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ymca/benin/1172758740/tpod.html Thu, 05 Apr 2007 11:52:05 -0400 Sam Jenson, Cindy Escobar and Dana Young off to Benin, Africa.

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Porto Novo, Benin

During the week of Feb 19th both the Cotonou and Porto Novo groups began working with the local Beninoise youth. The youth that were part of the 3 day tranining have been selected from their schools as the future peer educators for thier school. In total, Porto Novo team had approx 24 youth and us the 5 Canadians. It was great! We learned tons about HIV/AIDS and more importantly the difficulties and beliefs that exist in this community. The Beninin youth we worked with were for the most part very involved and outgoing. Although they were an educated and wellspoken group, it was interesting to find that still many of them maintained cultural and traditional beliefs in a way that impacts the spread of HIV/AIDS and STDS in Benin. For instance having a mistress is generally accepted, men are the "cheif" of the home so disobeying them is disrespectful and can jepordise a marriage, majority of the Beninoise youth agreed that women are liars and thier bigest desires are to get married and have children. Sex is seen as a necessity to good heath and starting early is a means to ensure fertility. Other intersting comments were: whether HIV is carried in Condoms, if AIDS exists in other countries, that maybe AIDS was created by white people "yovos" to sell condoms to Africa.

It was incredible to learn everything these youth think about AIDS and how misinformed they are. We feel overall that the training went well and that the fascilitators worked hard to educate these youth and give them tools to dispell the myths that we will all encounter in the field. However, there are some societal and cultural beliefs within the group and Benin that will be difficult to overcome. We feel one of the biggest challenges in combating AIDS in Benin is the situation of women, the illiteracy rate of women is 76% which is the result of the of the fact that only 58% of girls attend primary education and only 12% attend secondary education. This means very little women will be able to read about AIDS, if explained few will be able to comprehend the problem and as a result will not understand why they should use preventatives or alternative techniques for good health. Most importantly very few are able to be self reliant and many are forced to accept everything that comes with an unbalanced society.

Since the tranining we have worked with the peer educators to come up with awareness activities that will be conducted within their local schools in the next 3 weeks. It has been fun trying to get them to think outside the lecture box! The teaching style here is very directive and doesn't involve a lot of interaction. We are quite happy to finally be doing some 'real' work and are thrilled to have things planned for the rest of the month. The next major event is the Megga HIV/AIDS awarensess Conference on March 10th, at 15h00. Yes, they use 24 hrs here! Stay tuned.

Cindy and Dana
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Porto Novo, Benin

Wednesday, Feb 28th we met the group of peer educators (PE) for the first time after the training. The meeting was to talk about the future activities the PEs will be doing within the schools for the next three weeks. The Tuesday before we met up with our 'accompagnatrice' Isabelle to go over the expectations of what we are expected to do with the group. We were told that we are to ask the peer educators to decide on a topic that they are going to do their awareness training on, inform them that the workshop should solely cover one topic area and to start the audience should only be 10-20 youth tops. It was decided each Canadian was to pair up with each school's pair educator group and help them plan out their activity. The agenda for the day was to deliver the message then get into our subgroups and come up with an activity. After our meeting with the youth they were required to talk their principals, get their activity approved and select a date, time and decide to whom within the school they will deliver the workshop to. The plan seemed simple enough however executing this plan was not as straight forward.

Despite the fact that we had an outline of agenda items for that meeting many new agenda items and things to do were added just moments before by all sorts of people. This was fine, but it reduced the time we had available to plan out the activities with our subgroups. This is when the real challenges began, once in our subgroups it was quickly apparent that the youth had very ambitious plans. Some suggested plans of repeating the entire training that was done with us over 3days within 1 day. Some wanted to do a lecture on what is HIV/AIDS, modes of transmission, modes of prevention and a how to use a condom within 1 hour. Dana's subgroup wanted to deliver a conference/lecture to over a 1000 students at some point in the next two weeks however they hadn't considered any of the logistics or the fact that the activities are geared towards small groups.

The following Wednesday we had another meeting with the peer educators, this time Isabelle attended and did a mini training on how to design an activity. After this we got into our groups and tried to put together an activity that followed the structure that had just been presented and stay within the guidelines (time, group size, topic, etc.) Although this was useful there wasn't enough time to determine all the details, the required supplies, the duration, which PE would speak when... All the PEs were asked to bring their selected activity dates to this meeting, unfortunately Dana's group is quite young and didn't follow through. They then agreed to meet the following day, but failed to show up, so she had to find them at their school.

One of the biggest challenges in working on activities with the PEs is that the concept of planning an activity is somewhat foreign. Repeatedly we hear, "it's all in my head" but when they start writing it out they realize there are many things they haven't thought of. Due to this we thought it was necessary to create an intensive guide for the PEs including everything from information from the training, facilitation tools (videos, games, debates, music, demonstrations), how to plan an activity, preparation checklist, icebreakers and evaluations. We also included a code of ethics created by the youth as well as a definition of what is a peer educator.

The past week and a half we have been busy working on the guide and working with the peer educators. First we meet with the with the PEs and go over all the details of their activity- right down to preparing the room and seeing if they need chalk or tape (its necessary to bring your own). Then we accompany them to their activity and for the most part observe, but step in if they need further clarification or help with certain questions. We frequently hear questions about whether mosquitoes carry HIV, can you get AIDS from eating a contaminated animal and several questions about razors. We emphasize the fact that its the HUMAN immunodeficiency virus and therefore is only transferred between humans. The questions about the razors is frequent as there are many "barbers" and also there is a tradition here called scicitrice where a person's face is cut with a razor. The cuts are in different patterns and show where a person in from.

Yesterday we attended a great presentation done by two members of the Anti-HIV/AIDS club. These two are very motivated, know the material and work well with the youth. It's great to see this kind of energy here as it is so often lacking. Afterwards we had a chance to speak to these PEs and we learned that neither of them are in school because they can't afford the fees; they have the choice between eating or going to school! Hopefully projects like this will educate and empower Beninoise youth.

Dana & Cindy
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