Second week of June: BEAMing a purpose

The other Stint teammates and I who live in Pretoria, were able to take a week after the students were done with their exams to go and spend time with the kids at BEAM. Our mission was to share with the older kids ages 12-17 about AIDS and HIV.  Using the Better Choices booklet, we took the kids through different areas of what HIV/AIDS were and how to prevent getting them. We took an hour out of their day to talk through with them what they were learning and if they had any questions.

Over-all the kids seemed to be understanding what we were trying to get at and how we wanted to help them live better and health lives.  There were a few of the older boys that gave us trouble and a couple of the girls, by either talking or laughing when we were trying to speak.  It is hard because of the communication differences that we both come to the table with, but for the most part the students know how to speak partial English.  Also, there probably isn’t much love or punishment for when they act up at home, so they don’t know how to act much at all, except for getting what they want.

The week went as smoothly as it could have, even though there were a couple of times where I had to drag some of the guys out of the room that we were in to keep them from interrupting the other kids.  I hope, and I am sure the rest of the Stinters do as well, that those students took what they learned to live a life free from HIV/AIDS.