End of week 2

When I think about the fact that we only have five weeks total in our village (before we move to the next one) I get so blown away by how quickly time is moving. Only three weeks left! Today was one of our most busy, but also most AMAZING weeks in the village yet. Food was a little bit strange. A week's rundown of what mama served us for breakfast: plain rice, then chips (french fries), then cold boiled sweet potato, then bread (finally, something normal), then peanuts. It led us to the conclusion that our family does not distinguish between food that is appropriate for breakfast vs. dinner. But usually, we only need to talk to mama about what we would like, and then she is happy to oblige. It's definitely time for a talk.

Aside from food, in terms of teaching, things are going swimmingly. We taught all five of our subvillages in three community teachings (over 200 people!). For our community teachings, they usually last 2-3 hours and we have had an average of 50 people per teaching. One of my favorites this week was our mamas teaching. We have a dispensary for the whole ward (encompassing three villages) of Maroroni. On this particular day, the dispensary was receiving a shipment of vaccinations for the babies so mamas from all over the ward were walking up to 3-4 hours to make sure their baby did not miss out on this opportunity. So we had the rare chance to teach 50 mamas, which is very rare, since mamas usually stay at home, cleaning the house or preparing the next meal. The nurses were so completely supportive about our teaching that they refused to give out vaccinations until we had finished presenting our entire curriculum. So we had all of the mamas' undivided attention, especially when we talked about mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

When I teach, it's crazy because I begin to realize how many misconceptions and false information that is being spread about HIV transmission. Especially in the parts of our village that are far away from everything else. We teach at Nazaretti, which is an hour walk away from the town center. We played a scenario game in which we told the kids to respond to HIV transmission scenarios by saying Ndiyo (it is possible)/Hapana (no)/Labda (maybe). HALF of our 50 student class believed that you could get HIV by sharing food with someone. And HALF also believed that you couldn't get HIV by having unprotected sex. There were also some students that believed you could get HIV by being bitten by a mosquito. It just feels so good to explain to them that they can't, and why they cannot. It's great to realize that by providing correct information, I am working to eliminate the stigma that exists here. Maroroni as a ward (we got the results of a survey study that was conducted prior to our arrival) has A TON of stigma. Many of the adult community members have the information, but still refuse to get tested/use a condom/take any precautions to prevent the spread of HIV. People believe that HIV+ people should be marked and kicked out of the village, and that if you are HIV+, it's better just to die. There are several individuals who SIC knows of who are HIV+ (we have a field officer who stays in the village and visits HIV+ village members to give them support and advice), but they are so scared that other people will find out, that they refuse to meet with other HIV+ individuals. Yet, I feel like it is so important for them to have a support group, especially if they are in a community with an atmosphere full of stigma. For that reason, one of the side projects I am working on is a dadas (sisters) group. We have our first meeting this Wednesday. We will be selecting girls from our secondary school classes to meet and talk about pertinent issues (ie. preventing unwanted pregnancy). Eventually, my hope is that they will form a support network for one another, in which there is no stigma between them, so they can create an environment in which HIV+ indiv can come out publicly, or they can tackle gender issues and feel empowered. Obviously, these end points are very far away, but at the very least, I would like them to build a sense of community and trust between one another.

We have our first testing day this thursday. We have taught many people, and emphasized the importance of testing (the first 7 years that you have HIV, people feel completely healthy, so in order to stop the spread of HIV, people need to know their status). It is still very early in the game to have a village testing (the date was set by the mwenye kiti, or village chairman), but luckily, we have another testing the very last day that we are in the village, called Community Day. Community Day is for the whole ward, but it is hosted in our village because we are central.

Currently, I am typing from Moshi (near the base of Kili). We spent one of the most wonderful weekends here. The atmosphere is much more laid back and relaxed from the hustle and bustle of Arusha and the prices are much more reasonable here (only about 4-5,000 Tsh vs. 10,000 Tsh in Arush) - 1,000Tsh = $1. Plus, it's located only 30 min away from Marangu. Marangu is a beautiful, lush, green village with TONS of hiking and TONS of waterfalls. Today we hiked to two waterfalls. Generally, to get around you need a guide, which we hired on the street. We got a wonderfully challenging and hilly hike for three hours for only 5,000Tsh. It was such a great deal and it reminded me quite a lot of Hawaii. We passed banana trees (there are three types of bananas - one for eating, one for cooking (like plantain), one for making banana beer!), coffee bean plantations and got to smell peppermint, lemon and mango leaves. Plus, our guide even gave us a huge stick of sugar cane halfway through the hike. It was a much needed vacation from the city and I miss it already. But hopefully, we will be coming back soon. It was so gorgeous and the waterfalls had vines which you could swing on to get under the waterfall. Now, we are going to a bar to watch the rugby finals. England vs. South Africa. Needless to say, Gaby is stoked. Talk to you in a week!!

:)
Stefanie
(or Stuff, as my family calls me - they can't for the life of them learn how to say my name properly! Even the teaching partners, who speak pretty fluent English, cannot - to them, I am Stefan. sigh)