My Youth Choose Their Lives

I have been giving hourly talks weekly since the last week of February to two groups of women and one group of youth in my community and the neighboring community. The youth group that I have formed is in alliance with a Peace Corps DR initiative called Escojo Mi Vida or I Choose My Life. This course is approximately an hour each week and teaches about themes on how prevent pregnancies in youth, prevent the transmision of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, and make healthy decisions. This course aims to educate and promote behavior change in youth 14-24 to make healthy lifestyle choices.

My group fluxuates, but consists of approximately 15 youth who come to these weekly charlas. We play games, I give the presentation, test their knowledge, and they ask questions, etc. The past courses have included self-esteem, sexual organs, STIs, HIV/AIDS, condoms, puberty, and discrimination. In the next two weeks they will start presenting themselves on themes such as sex trafficking (a common practice in the DR), drugs and alcohol, and domestic violence. These talks are given by the group members in an effort to prepare them for giving talks in the schools. Starting in the fall these kids will give talks to the high schoolers in the local high school about the themes that they have learned in the course.

Ever talk starts off with an ice-breaker, which Dominicans absolutely love, basically a little song and dance repeat or a game to get the blood flowing. Then we go over the objective for the day, review what we have learned in the past, and start in on the course. Periodically throughout the course I have been doing a call and response of “Escojo” and they respond “Mi Vida” or visa versa to keep their attention. Also I randomly yell out “La Silla Pica!!” or the seat bites which means they all have to stand up as quickly as they can, hopefully keeping them on their toes and from falling asleep in the course. Each student has their own workbook, pen, and folder that I have organized for them that they can fill out questions within the workbook as we learn the topics.

Following these next two weeks the group members will take a test to test their knowledge of the talks they have been given. If they pass they will be able to graduate from Escojo Mi Vida. I hope to have a graduation in the community with cake and decorations. It is possible that I will have this graduation when my mother or my friends are here visiting from the US, but we will see. Last week I had a regional coordinator from Escojo Mi Vida come visit my course and my group members made me so proud. They are socially conscious young adults who are interested in improving their community and spreading their knowledge of healthy practices. They are patient with me with my Spanish, attentive, and thouroughly contemplate the topics that they are given. I am so proud of them and hope that they continue to do great work. As we finish up with the charlas, the goal is substainability. I hope that maybe one or two of my group members will want to start their own Escojo group in their own community or the community over. I would love to see their knowledge passed on. As always I try not to get my hopes up too high as nothing is for certain here and constantly expectations must be readjusted, but I have high hopes for my Escojo group and their ability to improve the health of the community’s youth.