It has officially been one month since I left America Land (my new friends' name for my homeland) and I am settling in quite nicely to Port Elizabeth. I am finally starting to understand my role in the office and how I can improve Grassroot Soccer in Port Elizabeth specifically. I have also started to make new friends outside of work!
The first Sunday here, I wandered into a church that was about a 10 minute walk from my house. Not only was the church a part of the worldwide Acts 29 Partnership, there just so happened to be seven Americans that are interning with Cru-the same ministry that I was a part of for four years at Virginia Tech! Months before I came to Africa, my prayer was that I would be able to find a community to worship Jesus with. In my life I have witnessed very tangible examples of answers to prayer, but not as crystal clear as this one. I mean 7 Americans that are part of Cru a mere 8 minute walk from my house! Praise God. I have been attending weekly community group that also meet close to my house. I arrived with nervous anticipation and although it was definitely a step out of my comfort zone, everyone was very welcoming and very curious about what I was doing in PE. I've been able to go bowling with a couple of the guys and was invited over to play Uno and have lunch one Sunday after church!
I have also been able to train with a local soccer club, St. Georges. One of the lads on the team knew the past GRS interns and invited me to come practice with them. They train every Tuesday and Thursday which has been nice to get a little bit of exercise. The team doesn't take themselves too seriously and the practices are very relaxed, but they are all quality players and it has been wonderful to run around a little bit. I am unfortunately not able to play in games yet because their season's registration is closed, but for now being able to practice and hang out with the guys has been a lot of fun.
I feel my life as an Air Force brat has really taught me a lot about transitioning to life in a new country. In college it is easy to relate to everyone else because we are all nervously treading the novel waters of college and are trying to meet new people. However, it can be daunting coming to a place where everyone is established. People have their own life and friends and are usually very content. I've found that the best strategy is to take everything slowly, get your bearings straight, then find things that make you happy and pursue them, because no one is going to do that for you! For me it has been church, soccer, and hopefully I'm going to be able to volunteer at a local autism clinic that is in walking distance to my house.
At work I am fully engrossed in my role as the Methods and Evaluation Intern. Right now I am trying to predict how many graduates of the curriculum we will have for the final months of 2012. We take attendance at every practice session and then and send monthly reports to our Headquarters in Cape Town. For September we are aiming for over 1,000 graduates in Port Elizabeth and I get to strategize which schools we can use to achieve that goal.
The participants take a pre-quiz and post-quiz with HIV related questions to see how much their knowledge improves after learning the curriculum. My job is to analyze which areas we need to improve upon and which areas are our strengths. Then I get to meet with the coaches and find out specifically what they are doing well so we can share with the group. I have posted the quiz below for anyone that is interested in testing their knowledge of HIV. If you want to take the quiz remember to stay away from google and be honest with your answers. If you want to find out how well you did just send me an email of your answers! matthus2008@gmail.com
If you cannot read the questions they are included below.
1. I have talked about HIV with a parent or guardian in the past 2 months.
2. I have talked about HIV with a friend in the past 2 months (outside of Skillz)
3. Unprotected sex is the most common way HIV is spread
4. Having more than one sexual partner increases your risk of getting HIV.
5. Having sex with an older partner increases your risk of getting HIV.
6. It is a women's responsibility to avoid getting pregnant
7. If a pregnant mother has HIV her baby will always be born with HIV
8. I can resist peer pressure.
9. I would stay away from a classmate with HIV
10. It is my responsibility to protect myself and other from HIV.
11. Circumcision can reduce a man's risk of getting HIV.
12. I would be willing to take an HIV test
13. Is is the man's responsibility to make decisions in a relationship.
14. There are times when it is ok for a man to hit his girlfriend.
15. Drinking alcohol and using drugs can increase your risk of getting HIV.
16. You are more likely to spread HIV in the first 6 weeks after getting infected.
17 How can you protect yourself from getting HIV (there can be more than one answer)
-Having only one faithful partner
-Washing after sex
-Using condoms during sex
-Not having sex
I have also included a picture of a mural that one of my fellow interns designed for our office!
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| The colors represent the South African flag, the blue waves represent the water close to PE, the green arcs represent the soccer stadium in PE, and yellow represents abundant resources in PE. |
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