Life as an Advocate

Just when I was about to give up on finding activities to make my summer quite meaningful and not boring, my mom gave me a call one afternoon and asked if I'd be doing anything over the entire summer vacation 'coz if I weren't, she'd sign me up on a summer job in her office. So I said YES! I really need to do something (at least) and the money offer was really $_$! hahaha =))

During our first meeting, I was mesmerized with what was written on our welcome banner: ...Summer Internship Program for Young Advocates on HIV and AIDS. Okaaaay, our mentor told us that we call ourselves "interns". Yes, INTERNS! This is SWEEEEEET!!!! Haha. So during the first week we had the training but aside from learning lots of stuff about HIV and AIDS in the Philippines, we also had a leadership training and improvement of communication skills which consisted mainly of GAMES then a reflection on how we could relate the games that we did with our lives. Oh dba, CHAR! Plus, tinuruan pa kami kung paano gamitin at suotin ang condom properly! hahaha. Likewise, during the 5-day training, we had lots of FREE FOOD! Free morning snacks, free lunch and free afternoon snacks! Owyeah! \m/ We also got free t-shirts! hahaha =)) But in the end, what I got was a 2-kilogram increase in my weight! DAMMIT!

Second week, our team (composed of ten members or should I emphasize, INTERNS) got to meet our DOCTORS :D Get it? We're interns and we have our own Doctors, RESIDENT DOCTORS! Haha =)) It's so surreal! It's soooo GREY'S ANATOMY! Haha :)) In the middle of this, I even told Lyle, "bakit parang naga-OJT na rin tayo? I LOVE THIS!" haha :))

Okay, so our job was to basically find 100 peers, ages 15-24 in our assigned area to educate about HIV/AIDS. We had to complete this before June 5, 2010. To summarize everything, here are the highlights of our work so far:

1. MAINIT - Imagine, our work time is from 8am to 5pm and we had to go to communities/squatters area to find the youth. No wonder nangitim na ako.
2. RIOT - it's squatters area right? So yes, we almost lost our lives one time :| Talk about 10-11 budots guys with pamalo on their hands :s
3. SICKNESS - cough, flu, fever, headache, tummy ache, name it, OUR TEAM HAS IT!
4. CENTIPEDE - I officially hate centipedes!!! Until now, my neck is still sore and has lots of red spots all over it :|
5. 2 KILOS OFF - My favorite part of the entire thing. After one week of walking everywhere and advocating, I LOST TWO KILOS!!! HAHAHA :)) This program is 8 weeks long and I still have 6 more weeks to go so, hopefully, that's gonna be 12 KILOS OFF TO GO! hahahaha =))

Just today, I realized na hindi pala madali ang mag-trabaho at maghanap ng pera for real. But being an advocate for a certain cause is fulfilling though because you know that you get to help and to impart your knowledge to those who need it the most. and make the world a better and safe place to live in. Like what I always say to those I get to meet:

July: kung makadawat ka ug HIV, ma-chaka jud ang imong life teh!
Peer: huh? ngano diay? wala diay na'y tambal?
July: naa gud. naa'y antiretrovirus - ang iyahang himuon kay padugayon lang ang imong life. ikaw, gusto ka ipadugay ang imong suffering?
Peer: dili ko oi!
July: oh, pag-condom lagi!
Peer: ay, wala ma'y lami ang mag-condom teh.
July: pili ka, dili ka malamian kung makipanghilawas ka o magka-AIDS ka ug ma-chaka imong life?

CHAR! haha :)) [magaling na ako mag-bisaya! haha. kasama iyan sa training, BISAYA101 - how to talk to bisaya people fluently.. and seriously, they won't understand you very well if you speak Tagalog or English - mao nang naningkamot jud ko teh! and gay lingo adds more life to the conversation! hahaha.]

and to note: as summer interns of the DOH, by emphasizing the use of condoms, we do not mean that you can have sex anytime you want as long as you are using condoms..we want to clear out that the use of condoms during sexual intercourse is plainly for PREVENTION OF HIV TRANSMISSION and PREVENTION OF AIDS ONLY.