Border Work and the Rainy Season

I’ve been in site for a month now and am starting to really get to know Ocotepeque. I’m meeting more people as well and rarely leave the house without running into someone I know. The rainy season has started and, aside from making laundry difficult, so far I love the rain. It has taken away the heat and has also made the mountains and entire valley very green, but it doesn’t seem like June because it’s warm and rainy while I’m sure it’s blazing hot at home.

About a week ago I went to visit my friend from the health center in her aldea, which is a small town of about 250 people 20 minutes outside of the town where I work. I met several of her aunts, uncles, and cousins, as well as her grandparents and had a great time. On my way home I had to cross a bridge that went over a small gorge and a river. I have no idea how old it was, but it was made of pieces of wood tied together (not very securely) with wire and there were several holes and gaps in the bridge. There was a wire handrail that was also extremely wobbly and did not help much to balance as I was crossing. After already having crossed it once, and not much braver for it, as we were getting ready to cross to head back to the highway it started pouring! When it rains here you have hardly any warning until the sky just opens up and lets loose. So not only did I have to cross the bridge again, but I had to cross when it was slippery and as I was getting drenched. Cynthia was walking me back and we were laughing the entire way trying not to slip between the pieces of wood. Going home in the rain, across the bridge, just completed my afternoon.

My work has been really interesting so far. I go into the health center every morning so I can become more familiar with the doctor, nurses, and the people from the surrounding communities. I haven’t started any of my own projects yet because I’m waiting until I understand the needs of the community better, so I have just been participating in the activities the health center already has planned. I have gone a couple times to El Poy, which is where customs is to pass between El Salvador and Honduras, to talk about HIV to the people passing through. There are a lot of trucks that pass though on the way to San Salvador or San Pedro Sula and these drivers are a high-risk population for HIV since they spend so much time away from home. Each time we went we were able to talk to a lot of men about HIV and the methods of transmission. Many of them are really interested in learning more because it’s spoken about so much but there are a lot of people who don’t know the difference between HIV and AIDS or that it can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding. We are also trying to encourage people to get tested and other times the health center has gone they have taken rapid tests and tested people while they were waiting for their papers, but right now we are short on tests and need to save them for pregnant women. It is extremely important that pregnant women get tested because they can take anti-retroviral drugs to prevent transmission of the virus to their child during pregnancy. They can also have a C-section and learn about alternatives to breast-feeding in order to have a healthy child. While we were at El Poy we distributed condoms, showed people how to use them correctly, and educated them about the nature and transmission of HIV. It was a little intimidating at first, just walking up to groups of men and asking them what they know about HIV, but I really enjoyed the activity. I even got to board a couple tourist buses that were passing through to talk to all the passengers about HIV. These activities have been really fun and have given me more of an idea of the health situation in my site and the surrounding areas. I’m starting to think of some projects I can do during my two years here and it’s exciting to actually be able to begin to implement them soon.

I have been having trouble uploading pictures here, but hopefully some will be coming soon!