Hello Togo!: AIDS Ride

Well I just finished my first AIDS Ride! AIDS Ride is an opportunity for Peace Corps volunteers to devote a week of time and energy to biking to a number of rural villages that are fairly isolated to present (what we call) sensibilizations on HIV/AIDS. There are five different AIDS Rides in Togo, divided up by region. The plateaux region (where I live) biked from Notse to Akpare this year (on side roads - not on the route nationale; the biking was very challenging as the majority of it was on damaged rocky or sandy dirt roads, and the region is very hilly)doing sensibilizations in 20 villages; 12 volunteers split into 2 groups, and with the help of some homologues who came along for the ride and helped a great deal with translating into local languages in some cases, we averaged 2 to 3 sensibilizations a day with a total of about 30-35 kilometers biked per day (we'd usually bike in the morning, do a sensibilization, bike again, do another sensibilization, etc...). Everyone basically lived in the same clothes and carried most of their stuff on their bike although there was a chase car that could carry some of our stuff as well. Other than one volunteer's minor bike accident, most volunteers did very well and few got sick (I got minorly sick but just on the last day so it wasn't a big deal). At night, we slept on mats in local schools on dirt floors or in dispensaires - which were usually a little nicer because they usually had tiled floors. They definitely weren't the most comfortable arrangements but usually people were so tired and sore they could sleep anyways. Usually one meal a day was provided by a local village woman (as previously arranged - usually rice and beans). We ate street food for our other meals. Bathrooms were in the bushes or corn fields and showers were often taken in the dark behind buildings, often with well water at which it was better not to look because it's hard to say if we were actually "cleaner" after washing with it. As such, it was a great "wilderness" experience. It was definitely a test of patience as well as, since we were passing through fairly 'isolated' villages, we got a whole ton of attention as YOVOs; At each destination, upon our arrival, we were surrounded within minutes by HUNDREDS of kids and adults who were content to just stand and stare for HOURS - even if we were just pausing to take naps. I went to bed each night with villagers staring and woke up (as early as 5) with villagers staring (as I often slept outside with some other volunteers). The week was a great chance to practice public speaking as well since at times, when we'd do presentations at local high schools, for example, we'd have an audience as big as 600 people. During the sensibilizations, we explained what HIV/AIDS is, what the modes of transmission are, what the modes of prevention are, what the incorrect rumors and stereotypes are, etc. We also did condom demonstrations with wooden penises - which may sound crude to you and always caused a ruckus (sp?) among the crowd at first, but is an incredibly essential part of the demonstration because a huge problem here is lack of or improper use of condoms (Just to clarify, it's not that we were encouraging sex - we placed a huge emphasis on abstinence as the safest way to go - but the reality is that young adults are doing it regardless and without realizing how to protect themselves properly against pregnancy and illness and that's why the demonstration is crucial). I personally was surprised with how intently adults and kids listened to us. Still, apparently statistics show that of a crowd, only 80 percent will listen to everything you have to say, 20 percent will actually understand everything you say, and only 5 percent will actually ultimately change an aspect of their behavior in response. The reality of the statistics can be kind of depressing, especially considering how much work we put into this week. But I would seriously still feel as if it was worth it even if we got just one kid to change his/her ways and lead a safer, healthier lifestyle.

So, overall, it was a very exhausting week but I'm really glad I did it because it was a great experience. I feel like it's also helped prepare me to better do demonstrations in my own village, especially among young adults - which is particularly important for me since the first meeting of a girls club I started in my village will be taking place this upcoming week. I also got a T-shirt out of it! :-) The pictures will fairly accurately give you an idea of what our presentations, sleeping conditions, crowds, etc. were like.

Sample sunrise

Going up a hill of sand (that's me waving)

Me and Emily - very sweaty at the end of a long day

A few (not very flattering) shots of me doing my part of the presentation at schools

Playing games with village folks and kids

Gawkers; this was taken during AIDS ride but it is a perfect example of what kids' faces look like when they're staring at me on the phone - especially the little girl in the red dress in the middle