Jinja and Yumbe, Here We Come!

July 24, 2019

We spent the first half of the day in the office. Mariam and Aayush finished and submitted their first Blog Post for RAHU’s website. While in the field, they noted some of the tactics used by Peer Educators to bring young people into health centers: besides just having games and a specific youth corner that acted as a safe haven for young people, peer educators used practice scenarios to create thought provoking real world situations that young people may face in their personal lives. Based off the concept of using scenarios as a practice tool, Mariam and Aayush wrote an article on how to create an effective scenario that anyone can use in their community or social circle. 

Rashmi and Lily are scheduled to leave for Yumbe tomorrow, so they continued to work on their presentation for the Peer Educator Training. They will have the opportunity to lead a 2-hour session based on communication, including the proper way to do so, why it is so important, and how to appropriately use social media. Rashmi and Aayush also prepared a short summary of GlobeMed at Rutgers University’s partnership with RAHU for RAHU’s website. 

After lunch, we headed out for peer education sessions. Rashmi, Mariam, and Aayush went to Spire High School to lead discussions on relationships while Lily, Karis, and Erin went to Atlas High School to lead discussions on alcohol and substance abuse. To make sure the discussions were planned in advance, we finalized our session plan as well as printed the game cards we needed. 

At Spire High School, we played a game called Myth or Fact. All of the students were divided into 2 groups, and one representative was chosen from each side. As we read a statement, the students had to decide if the statement was a myth or a fact. After each side gave their answer, we went over the answer and had a small discussion on why the answer was truly that. 

At Atlas High School, Lily, Erin, and Karis were split up into separate classrooms, within each, there was already had a peer educator facilitating a session. In Lily’s classroom, she assisted the peer educator in educating students on the dangers of drug and substance abuse. They touched on peer pressure, the side effects of using drugs, and how having an addiction can impact not only that person’s life, but also the lives of those around them. Towards the end of the session, Lily ran an activity in which she split the students up into small groups and passed out poster paper to each group. Each group was told to work together to come up with a creative way to depict the information they had learned that day, and once they were done, they would present to the class. A few students drew pictures, one group wrote a poem, and another group wrote a short story. All of the students had the chance to present their posters to the class and explain how and why they related to substance abuse. 

Once everyone wrapped up their peer educating sessions, we got back into the van for the long drive back home. Victor was nice enough to drop us off directly at our apartment (woo hoo for front door service), and we decided to make a quick and easy dinner of noodles that Aayush had brought from home. We sat together and watched a little of a National Geographic show about the Bermuda Triangle while discussing our plans and trips for the rest of the week. Aayush and Mariam are actually going to Jinja for a night, which is about a 2 hour drive away, to participate in some general checkups and peer educator activities. Lily and Rashmi will be leaving tomorrow afternoon for their week in Yumbe. Everyone is really excited to get some more time in the field and see firsthand how the work that RAHU does impacts these communities.