Let's Talk About Sex

Making Condom Balloons

It has been said that you are not a true Peace Corps Volunteer until you have shown your neighbors how to properly use a condom. When I heard that I thought, “Psh, I am going to be working with small children, no way will I end up doing a condom demonstration.” Then last week I held a Fiesta de Cóndones (Condom Party) at my house with over 30 kids screaming, “I want a condom!” Kids as young as 10 made condom balloons, played games to learn about the risks posed by HIV/AIDS, reviewed how to use a condom, and, of course, practiced putting on condoms with the help of some plantains, a carrot, and a wooden phallus I was given by Peace Corps for just such an occasion.

Interviewing President Condom

Many readers back home are probably shocked at the notion of 10 year-olds practicing putting a condom on a vegetable, but I have received no complaints from parents about the event. Why? Because parents here know how important it is for their kids to receive good sex education. Sadly, the D.R. has the highest rate of pre-teen pregnancy (kids 12 years-old and under). News stories about pregnant 9 year-olds are not uncommon. HIV/AIDS is also a big problem in the country. HIV/AIDS is the number one killer of women age 15 to 24 years old.

I don’t want to see any of my young neighbors become pregnant when they themselves are still children. Nor do I want to attend any of their funerals. I will never know how my sex talk impacted all of my students. But I hope it will help them to resist peer pressure, and instead make informed decisions about their sexual lives.