MYAA (Month of Youth Against AIDS)

March is the month of youth. This means that all over the district there are events that talk to the youth about preventing HIV/AIDS and the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. This past weekend was the launch of all of our events in the district – we did our launch in a little village named Malolwane. Malolwane is about 40 minutes from Mochudi and is, what I would call, quiet. So, we tried to liven it up a bit.
We started by setting up a truck with a DJ and playing music to try and get kids to come. We also had a drama group up on the stage doing dances and acting out scenarios. It was really cool however as it was in Setswana, I could only kind of follow along with their actions and dance! I didn’t realize it but Dereje had one of the counselors sitting next to him telling him about what was going on in the play while I was running around taking pictures. So, when I came back he told me what the play was all about in great detail. I started laughing and asked him how he knew what was going on? He replied, “honey, I’m African…in a way we all speak the same language." I quickly started looking around him to see who had been telling him what was going on and found the culprit sitting next to him who wasn’t quick enough to claim her innocence. She started laughing at him too. The youth coordinator that I work closely with also got a big laugh at me, he’s constantly translating stuff for me in meetings and really anywhere else that we are- it turns out our guest speaker decided to speak English at our event. Just after she started talking I quickly went to the side of my friend and asked him what she was saying. He immediately, as he always does, tried to describe to me what was going on…once he did, I smiled at him and told him, “I know, she’s speaking English”….I think it took him a good five minutes to stop laughing.
Our guest speaker was a woman who wrote a book at the age of 15 about the horrors of HIV and then went on to write other four books that are waiting to be published. And all of this at the age of nineteen.
The kids seemed to enjoy what she had to say, but mostly I think they enjoyed the music and the snacks (anything to get the message across).

Even the little ones seemed to enjoy the day (even though it was about 97 degrees Fahrenheit…and minimal shade)!