Practicum Week in Corinto, Chinandega

This week was our practicum week. We were split into our two larger groups, Healthy Lifestyles and Maternal and Child Health. My group (Healthy Lifestyles) was sent to the department of Chinandega for the week. We then divided into two smaller groups of 12. One group stayed in the department capital of Chinandega and my group went to Corinto, Chinandega about 25 minutes away. I love Corinto, it is a port city, so of course right on the water!
The first day we got there (Monday) we had meetings in Chinandega about teaching HIV/AIDS in formal and non formal settings with youth groups, schools and health centers. We also learned about appropriate ways of working with men and how to tailor our charlas to reach them. After that my group traveled to Corinto! Our hotel was right near the beach. I walked over in time to catch the sunset over the port. It was beautiful! I definately enjoyed the beaches. It was really cool to see a black sand beach, although i didnt want to go in the water because of it. haha. I am used to Clearwater beach with white sand and semi clear water. This water was REALLY dark. no thanks.
Tuesday we had all morning to prepare our charla on HIV/AIDS to give to a classroom at a school. After lunch we arrived at the school to give our charla. After my stomach did a million flips worrying about my language skills and hoping these kids were going to understand us, I calmed down enough to start the charla. The kids are really respectful. As soon as you walk into the room they stand up and say "Buenas Dias". We set up and began the charla and i think it went really well. We had a volunteer in there with us to fill in any information we may miss and to give us some good feedback. After the charlas we all got together to process and discuss what went well and what didn't. Things we could change the next time. Overall we got really positive feedback, our language was good, just need to add more details to certain topics (me, forget details, i'm sure someone was just shocked by that statement haha). This really helped me get over some nervousness as i hate public speaking in english let alone spanish lol. After this we had some time to prepare our charla for the next morning.
Wednesday was our busy day. We had charlas in the health centers in the morning. I was really proud of myself. This was the first charla i did without notes. I did it all from the top of my head. It helps that the day before we did the same topic but nonetheless i was stoked! It went really well. We had a very small group at the health center but they were great. There were two gentlemen there with their wives (i'm assuming) and they were very interested and answered questions and asked some as well. They were fairly knowledgable on the topic which was cool. After lunch time, we were split into a few different groups and were sent to the Naval base in Corinto. I was a bit worried to work with men and how they would listen to a charla on HIV/AIDS. They were very respectful to us and listened intently to our charla. We did some funny activities to show them transmission and prevention. They seemed a bit shy at first to share any knowledge but after a little bit there were a few guys that took the reins and started asking questions and answering ones that we asked. In the end they had fun and were a good group to work with. I dont know how i would be doing that charla alone, but not every site has that as a project.
Thursday we had meetings all day back in Chinandega. We had meetings on working with sex workers, which is a necessity near the borders where many people are traveling. We also had meetings on working with youth promoters, organizing HIV/AIDS day fairs. After dinner in a pizzeria (i bought an awesome chicken pita!) we were split into two groups to go to a billiards tournament. This is an awesome way for volunteers to reach the male population. They speak to the owner of a billiards hall and arrange a tournament. They charge money to play, which goes to the owner. They get prizes for the winners and in between rounds they give part of a charla. During the last round the last two players have to answer questions about the charla to keep playing. Its a great, fun way to get the men together and to listen. I think it went fairly well but its hard to get that many rowdy guys together to listen. It would surely aggravate me. Overall it was an interesting week!
Friday we got together to evaluate the week and discuss our progress as this is the "mid" point in training. (not really we are almost done). After we finished our meeting we were given what we have all been waiting for! The packet of sites that are available to us! The places that we could potentially be living for the next two years! They told us to review them and see what is there and what we are interested in and why. We are able to put in our opinion but that doesnt mean that we will be sent where we want. We were told not to get attached to certain sites for that particular reason, but thats easier said than done. There are sites that i immediately do not want because they are really big. I dont want to be sent to a city atmosphere. I would rather be in a smaller town where i can form relationships with people in town and have people know me. I want to feel safer and have people help me with my spanish. Then again larger sites are nice because there are more things to do and things are easily accessable to you. I have about 4 sites that i absolutely love! They are all smaller but near bigger cities. I am hoping for the best. I will know next monday the 7th where i will be living for the next two years so stay tuned!!
Sites are available in the following departments: Rivas, Leon, Chinandega, Matagalpa, Esteli, Madriz, Nueva Segovia, Rio San Juan and RAAS. As of now and looking at the sites i would like to go to Rivas or Rio San Juan. I had a dream i was sent to Rivas so lets see what happens.

Here are some pictures from the week in Corinto.