Teacher Sexual Education Training in April

My latest Peace Corps exploits have mainly focused on talking about sex.  Christina and I led a teacher training on sexual education for about 50 teachers in April, with the intent that with our help the teachers would then replicate the same classes with their students.  I had a successful afternoon in my Nimapá school where we had all three grades together and a different teacher, including myself, led one of five topics.  In Chuculjuyup we had three different groups – Primero and Segundo girls, Primero and Segundo boys, and Tercero.  Two teachers were with each group.  The hogar (home ec) teacher and I worked with the all-girls group.  It was good until the English teacher (I didn’t even know who she was – maybe she isn’t normally there the same days as I am) decided to contribute.  We did an anonymous Q & A session at the end where each girl wrote a question on a slip of paper.  The uninvited English teacher had a lot of questionable, unadvisable, and straight up incorrect things to say.  My favorite was when she told the girls that you can choose the sex of your baby by what time of the month you have sex.  If at the beginning of your potentially fertile period you have sex, you will have a boy because the man is “más fuerte,” and if you have it towards the end of the fertile period, you will have a girl.  I spoke to the hogar teacher after and asked her to please clarify with the students that this is not correct along with a few other things.  Today in the afternoon I did the same sessions in Xenajtajuyup, first with all the girls, and then with all the boys, with the help of the Social Studies/Natural Sciences teacher who has been great to work with.  I have actually successfully collaborated with all my schools to teach sex ed to the students in all three grades, with the teachers working alongside me.  (The only exception is Xantún, my very tiny school, where I will continue to take responsibility for teaching.) We have made no headway on any other topics, but it’s a start.  Also today, in the morning, Christina and I returned to the ENRO (the huge public school in Toto), again for sex ed.  First we handed out an anonymous survey as a tool to track behavioral change.  Next week is the second part of the HIV/AIDS behavioral change workshop that I attended in February.  I, however, will not be attending because I will be in the U.S.!