HIV Education

Two posts in one week, let alone one month?! Yes, I am trying to post more!

Yesterday, I taught HIV to a class of high school students. This was my first time in front of a classroom in about 8 months and it went SO WELL. I really love to be in charge of classroom of students who need to learn topics like Sex Education, HIV/AIDS, and other difficult-to-cover subjects. The students were so engaged and the mentor who cam with me to make sure I could teach (since I'm doing this as a volunteer with the amazing Buddies of NJ AIDS organization) said I did an excellent job!

I was nervous at first, but once I got my flow, all of my training and background just took over. Granted, I kind of jumped from one topic to another, but the kids stayed interested and if I forgot anything I just jumped back. I managed to cover the 3 types of transmission, including an in-depth discussion for each of the 3 main modes of transmission (sexual contact, mother-to-child, and blood-to-blood [including needles and tattoos]), how an HIV test works, some theories behind how it was transferred into humans, what people with AIDS "look like", how many people in the US are HIV+ and how many people worldwide are positive, how stigma plays a role in knowing your status, how many people who have HIV have no idea, and volunteering with AIDS organizations at home and abroad. Oh, and of course, my favorite things in the world: a male condom demonstration, a female condom demonstration, and a dental dam demonstration.

It was exhilarating! It felt wonderful! And I really did give these kids some knowledge. I know this because a bunch came up to me/my counterpart/the teacher to thank us and to say they had learned a lot.

There were some funny moments. At one point, instead of saying "And then you take the condom off," I said, "And then you take the penis off!" I lost the class for a good minute at that point, and saved myself with a Lorena Bobbit joke! Ha! And then, I accidentally made a rude motion when I was talking with my hands, but the teacher was okay with that and laughed it off.

Anyway, this will hopefully keep me sharp for when I do get into the Peace Corps, where I am nominated for Health Extension.

Have a great rest of the week!