Lost in Translating

When I was in Peace Corp I was assigned to help out with the local chapter of the International Red Cross / Red Crescent.

At one point in my service I worked with the HIV prevention taskforce, who focused on what internationally were considered “high risk” populations - men who have sex with men (most experts note there are men, such as prisoners, who will still engage in sexual behavior but may still identify as straight so this is the official umbrella term) / youth, particularly those without access to safe sex education / and sex workers.

Working with this team led to some of the most amazing experiences of my entire volunteering time:

- I attended a secret gay pride party, complete with pole dancers and drag queens

- I visited a local men’s prison which was a converted kindergarten complete with a graveyard of children’s playground equipment outside

- I received donated wooden penis models in an amusing variety of shapes/sizes, to train local Red Cross chapters on how to use them in condom demonstrations

- I watched high school students go out into their community between training sessions to buy a condom, then come back to talk about their experiences (even my high school never did this kind of training - and holy hells is it effective)

- I traveled to the border to meet with sex workers, led by an Australian sex worker activist/consultant (absolutely the most amazing person I met my entire time in service), in order to engage and support community-driven prevention initiatives, while providing empathy training for local officials

While overall my time abroad had many down’s compared to up’s, these were the high points of my service. The local HIV prevention team I worked with were incredible people, all inspired to do better with whatever resources they had. I learned a lot about activism, public health, and breaking down barriers.

I also learned interesting phrases my fellow volunteers did not, including my favorite which roughly translated to “Hi, my name’s Wild Kitten, I’m a Russian sex worker.”