11/26/09
Six days of IST go by. We are dropping like flies. I sneak pictures of everyone sleeping during lectures. Their bobble heads and the loud inhale that wakes them up. Followed by a look around...did anyone just see me doze off? Our tired brains can't take much more. The penis doodles, STI monsters, and dinosaur doodles saturate our notes.
Season six volunteers are here now. It's been the first time for many of them to see each other in months. First time for most of them to be together since training a year ago. And it is the first time for season six and season seven to be together. It's insanely hard for me to put into words what this was like. Going from no one for three months, to thirty three people for six days, then to sixty two for four more days. All crammed in one classroom, one dormitory. Season seven is slowly loosing their minds. We've forgotten how to interact. We're overwhelmed. To say the least, it was painful for all of us to adjust- and keep adjusting.
In the classroom, all sixty two of us together now, I watch people's eyes drift and linger. I'm completely fascinated watching season six and seven interact. Imagine being a twenty-something year old in isolation for a long period of time then abruptly put around new people of the opposite sex that aren't Swazi....but like...you. Any sexual frustration you were feeling before becomes incredibly inflamed. Sexual frustrations can mean anything from missing the act of sex, flirting, holding, or just looking (in case you've never experienced it.. you lucky bastard). We're all sexual beings- especially as twenty something year olds. I watch the few men in season six stare at the beautiful bleeding heart babes of season seven. Feet are tapping, pens are clicking as the opposite sexes from opposite groups stare from the opposite sides of the room, ignoring the mundane lectures. I start to tally how many times one person stares at another. No penis doodles anymore- this game is much more fun. We are sexual tyrannosauruses. If young male international presenters speak on an NGO's behalf I watch the ladies in the audience take notice to his left hand ring finger. Fantasies are blossoming. AIDS what?
Not to say Peace Corps turns you into a sex hound. Most wouldn't act on these impulses. Traveling and being alone... you long to connect with anyone you don't have to fight the cultural and language barriers with. Ten days of presenters dancing around our questions and throwing out statistics on flip charts......... your mind is mush! You're starting to loose perspective, your grip on reality gone, and you're forgetting who you once were. The solution?
Penis doodles.
All trash talking of IST presenters aside..there were a few lectures I did enjoy. PSI came to speak. PSI one of the main distributors of condoms in Swaziland. They're in the marketing biz. So unlike myself, they know how to sell the idea of condoms. They know you have to work with Swazi men, not against them. Whereas I just want to shake them and shout, "Fusake!". Their new condom slogan: "A man knows he should ALWAYS be right. And he's not a man unless he tests." Their new condom, billboard reads : "You'll last longer." A picture of a smiling man and a very satisfied beautiful young lady. You have to make him WANT it. They hold soccer tournaments telling young men they cannot join unless they test.
The ABC's (abstinence, be faithful, condoms) of AIDS education doesn't fly anymore. It's a broken record. A campagain, "One Love" does what they call, "Ambush Theatre". Actors go into communities. Into kombis and restaurants and act. They pretend to be part of a love triangle- showing the consequences of multiple concurrent relationships. The dangers of cheating. Actors showing the pain of what's really going on "on the ground". Their hope? This will discourage unhealthy behavior.
These strategies all here as a result of AIDS Fatigue. The people don't want to hear it anymore.We must look at AIDS culturally and through the complexities of Swazi gender.
We must see AIDS their way.
You bring up a very good point. When I was in Kenya for 10 months, the Kenyan condom distributors used a slogan that translated to " Hey, are you READY?". Ad's showed men sitting down to a dinner with their prospective wife's family, and the prospective father-in-law asking the man if he uses a condom. The man, in a somewhat slick move by Kenyan standards, pulls out the packet and says "Always" as he smiles at his love interest. Interestingly enough, this approach had some traction.
ReplyDeleteThe point? It's all about cultural context. You can't force or shame anyone into using protection, only promote from within their own framework and work from the inside out.