Time to Walk the Walk!

I'm excited and nervous. Tomorrow is the first time that I get to lead Teen Club. I've been volunteering at the Baylor Clinic for almost 3 months now. My time there is split between the morning Play Group program and the Teen Club program. I've not only participated in Teen Club events in Gaborone, but also Mochudi and Francistown. While I had fun at each event, they weren't really what I was expecting. According the the Teen Club mission statement, we are supposed to be providing both eductation and psychosocial support so that these teens can live long healthy lives.

I thought my role as a volunteer was to develop a life skills curriculum for HIV+ kids that we would then use for future Teen Club events. In December I asked if we could pilot some of the activities I've put together. I was told there wasn't room in the agenda. I didn't push the issue. I'm just a volunteer and maybe I haven't been around long enough to see Teen Club in full effect. Ian and I came to that event. Guess what the kids did for the entire time? Played games! No doubt they had a great time - but what did they learn?

A week later I took two of the Teen Club leaders to a Rotary Club meeting. We are applying for a Roatary grant, so they asked us to make a presentation. The kids were impressive. The young lady shared that her disease made her feel lonely and depressed. She contemplated suicide. But thanks to Teen Club, her life has completely changed for the better.

Guess what I learned one month later? This young lady is pregnant. She doesn't know the father because she has multiple partners. On top of that, she hasn't disclosed her status to any of her partners.

Case in point: we are not doing what we say we are doing! What did I do? Gathered up my data from the Needs Assessment that I conducted (first task I was given as a volunteer) and opened my big mouth! Did you know that more than 70% of our "teen leaders" aren't adhering to their meds? Or that only 1 out of the 8 teen leaders can tell you the four ways HIV can be transmitted? Only 2 can tell you why it's important to take ARV's.

It's time to start doing what we say we do! And tomorrow's my chance to get that ball rolling. I've spent a lot of time researching and planning. Let's hope the implementation goes well!