Something Different

Lunch on the first day was peppered with awkward silences and shy glances; not one of the twenty attendees had been to a JUNTOS workshop previously. Hungry from crowded, bumpy bus rides, they swallowed their nervousness with heaps of rice and chicken, trying to act nonchalant and cool.

But soon they were discussing puberty and reproductive systems, leadership skills, self-esteem, HIV, and other topics that teenagers need to know about, with no trace of embarrassment and minimal giggles. The students, most of them between 15 and 20 years old, spent three consecutive days in a conference room with four Peace Corps Volunteers and four Mozambican teachers, receiving what I can only describe as D.A.R.E., Growing and Changing, and sex ed all rolled into one extremely educational weekend.

However, it was no ordinary weekend in the classroom. When we all wrote our expectations for the weekend on a giant piece of paper, someone wrote that they hoped for “something different than what we usually experience.” And that, without a doubt, is what they got. Unlike a normal school day, the students did most of the talking. They didn’t stay in their chairs all the time; they got up to act out skits about gender equality, walk around the room writing on the wall all the slang they could think of for female and male genitalia, and, the ultimate challenge, free themselves from the Human Knot. They learned about how HIV works through a game involving throwing wads of paper at each other. At 6:00pm on Saturday, I found myself running through a dark, half-closed-down market, looking for thirty bananas to give my condom demonstration (I found two bunches of the mini kind).

All of the students are part of a youth group called JUNTOS – Jovens Unidos no Trabalho para Oportunidades e Sucesso, or Youth United in Work for Opportunities and Success. I know, I know, Motherp, it should be JUNTPOS. But it rings well in Portuguese without the P; “juntos” means “together” so it’s a good group name. Peace Corps Volunteers run JUNTOS groups all over the country, each with a focus area: theater, dance, journalism, or photography. Each year, a few neighboring groups get together for this workshop, to talk about topics that are not usually talked about. The five students we chose to invite from Nauela are those who were the most involved in the group up until this point.

The kids felt important and responsible more than they ever had in school. With over 1,000 students in the high school, and a grand total of 23 teachers and staff members, it’s hard to reach every kid to let them know they matter. By inviting these five students, giving them the responsibility of transmitting these messages back to their communities, and talking to them openly about relationships, decisions, our bodies, and our self-images, they better understood their individual roles and importance in society. During one activity, the kids were supposed to stick paper to their backs and walk around writing compliments on each other’s papers. One of my shy, self-conscious students actually squealed with joy as I helped her read and understand the words her peers wrote on her paper – “fascinating,” “sensational,” and “beautiful smile,” among other things. It’s not often that they get direct, individual positive feedback.

It was nothing like my kids had been to before. They didn’t have to do any chores – buckets of water magically appeared in the bathroom for our baths, their plates were washed, meals were cooked and served…and complete with snacks and juice every day! For 48 hours they were treated like kings and queens. After that first lunch, there wasn’t a moment of silence, not even at 2am. They were, after all, twenty very riled up teenagers who almost never leave their hometowns.

Lunch on the final day was seasoned with music blaring from three different cell phones, laughing, chatting, hugs goodbye, and signing each other’s workbooks. It truly was “something different,” and I’m certain they’ll never forget it.

My very own JUNTOS group! 

Sam's hands help Clemence make a visual
representation of phase three of AIDS.

Antonio explains why the monster with seven hairs and
one ear slightly larger than the other is happy.

Example of what not to do on the left: use two
condoms at the same time. 

Can I put this on my resume?

30 mini-bananas.

Protein with every meal!

Jennea assigned kids to be the flu, the immune system, AIDs, and
 Antiretroviral drugs, and then let them pelt paper at each other.
Understandably, chaos ensued.

Juvencio explains something to the students

Steph stands in front of the students looking important, feet wide
apart for extra balance. Is that really how I stand?

A dramatization to demonstrate gender inequality.

Dancing never fails to wake up the nodder-offers.

Anabela takes a turn in charades.