erin.

This is a sampling of anonymous questions from the secondary school students I have been training on HIV/AIDS. Note the different slang kids use here!

(click on the photo to enlarge and read).

When I teach, I am always amazed at how much the average Ugandan kid knows about HIV/AIDS.  Though they generally do not receive comprehensive sex education or extensive information on reproductive health, this generation has been inundated with messages about HIV/AIDS ever since they can remember. And yet, inevitably, lots of talk about the virus has opened the way for the spread of myths and rumors and misinformation. It’s normal for me to get questions about HIV being passed by mosquitoes or through sharing toothbrushes. For most groups that I train, I try to present the information in the most straightforward way I know how, so that trainees can go on to respond to any rumor with reasoned knowledge.

I have been discussing the possibility of extending my Peace Corps service beyond my original May close-of-service date for some time now, and recently received official word that my 5 1/2 month extension has been approved by the powers that be. 

I requested this extra time in order to accomplish a number of projects in Malaba, at the Uganda-Kenya border, which until this point have been secondary to other work assignments.  With some extra months to completely focus on these things, I should be able to close out my Peace Corps service having accomplished one of the things I think is most important– leaving my work and knowing that it will continue on after I have returned home.

I never wrote the milestone one year entry– the blog post in which the PCV reflects on how much s/he has learned and changed since that first day in country X. Somehow the year anniversary snuck by me without bringing a well-timed epiphany or intense need to reflect.  In fact, now I find myself at the two year mark, and I still have difficulty capturing all the ways this experience has changed me.  But I have been thinking about it a bit, ever since my sister visited and told me one way– after I argued with someone over 500 USh (25 cents), she said, “You’re not as nice as you used to be.”

One of the things I remember quite well from my arrival in Uganda was meeting the second-year volunteers.  They seemed so comfortable and all-knowing.  They had stories.  They joked about their parasites.  They had tons of hints and experiences to share.  On Monday, I went to train the newest incoming class of volunteers and realized that I have become that seasoned second-year, complete with the comfortable confidence and a suspected case of amoebas.  Funny, though.  I’m anything but sure.  I think I have just found a certain comfort in not knowing.  You could say it’s a tolerance for ambiguity.  Yes, I am curious, but also have a certain patience with the unknown.

A former PCV once said that when he got home to America after his service, he always struggled to answer the question, “So how was it?” in a meaningful, honest way before the person asking lost interest.  After some time, he settled on an answer: “It was transformational.” 

As I begin considering what’s next myself– though I still have plenty of time (October is my new finish date)– I have a feeling this word, transformational, just might fit.