Condom demonstrations

There was an expo at the university, Thursday and Friday. I had to pretty much do it by myself because my boss ditched me Thursday and Friday didn’t even come. I gave a million condom demonstrations; I wouldn’t give out condoms until they could demonstrate that they knew how to correctly use it. There were many creepy guys, but some who were almost academically interested. Some women came also; I liked talking to them best. I talked about SPREAD and the health program and how it integrates with our coffee program and then a lot about family planning methods and a little about the other things we do. We had a whole table with the different family planning methods available in Rwanda, so that’s what most people saw and asked about. I got into a philosophical debate with a pharmacy student about the emergency contraceptive. He was telling me that in Rwanda abortion is illegal and that some people see this as abortion and that it is not accepted in Rwandan culture. I told him that this pill is legal in Rwanda and that in my view his morals should not interfere with him doing his job. His job is to serve his clients and if they believe that this is something they want, then he is obliged to give it to them. I don’t like the idea of other people making decisions for some. It’s a personal choice and therefore it is up to the individual, not the service provider. Which is why I am pro-choice on abortion and assisted-suicide. Sucks for a service provider if they disagree, but it’s not their place to decide for someone else.

There is a crested crane who has perched in a tree on my road and squaks non-stop in the mornings. They are so beautiful, it’s hard to remember that they are wild and not part of a zoo.

Monday, I taught English and went to gym tonique, took a cold shower and had pasta for dinner with chunky vegetable sauce.
Tuesday, I went out in the field and taught nutrition and incorporated a bit of family planning. You cannot properly breastfeed your child (recommended to two years) if you have another right away. Taught the increased nutritional needs of women when they are pregnant. Then I went home and read, watched how I met your mother, cooked fried rice, had Elizabeth over after she was banging at my gate to get in during the storm and calling me 3 times to let her in and me not hearing it because its impossible to hear during thunderstorms here. What with the rain on the tin roof and the incredibly loud thunder… So, when I finally saw my phone and called her back, she was already at her meeting and soaked to the bone! She stopped by on her way home and ate some dinner and brought me apple juice.

Wednesday, went out to the field again and got stuck out there because the driver came back to town. Had to wait an hour for him to come pick us up after we finished, so didn't get home until after 2:30 and missed English class and was hungry!!! Gym on Wednesday was crazy. Its been raining, so its quite cold here and as soon as i got one foot in the door of the gym, my glasses fogged up! Grosssss! Neither of us were too excited to go to the gym, but pushed each other to go and it ended up not being so bad. Went over to her house after and had a delicious dinner and a hot shower and stayed the night.