Ali and I joined Youth to Youth in Health on a day-long trip to the Arno Atoll. We took the XXXX (named after an Australian beer) across an hour of rough open ocean. It was against the current, so the boat rocked up and down and side to side pretty significantly. I'm proud to say I didn't throw up (neither did Ali!), but I came pretty damn close. By the time we arrived, my legs and arms got tingly, I felt dizzy and a definite urge to hurl.
We rested for a bit and after recovering we went to a nearby elementary school to put on some songs and teach the young'ins about sex. We separated the boys from girls. Then the boys got a condom demonstration (some were a little to young to understand what was going on, but exposure is good!). The girls were taught about the reproductive system. Ali will write more about that (http://alisonlemoine.wordpress.com).
Then we took a a bumpy ride in the back of a flat bed truck to another school. It took about an hour to get there and it rained heavily during the trip. It was undoubtedly (in addition to the boat ride) the most uncomfortably day of my life so far! But boy was it worth it. Ali and I got to sing with the kids at 2 schools on Arno and were amazed by the atoll's beauty.
Majuro, as I've mentioned, is a really over-populated slum. There's trash everywhere in the downtown area. Arno, on the other hand, must have about 500 people occupying the same area... maybe a bit smaller. The beaches are pristine! Unfortunately, we didn't have time to really swim. So Ali and I are planning to bring my mom there in January for a long weekend.
I'm off to San Francisco to cover the Marshallese election. Since no foreign correspondants seem to be coming here to find out how well the election goes, we're sending someone abroad to get a man on the street perspective. So I volunteered to go to San Francisco for just that reason.
Just kidding. I'm actually going to San Francisco to fulfill my student visa requirement. But I will write about the election in my next entry.
Cheers,
Steve
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment