Scuba Diving!

On the paddle boat on the way to the big boat to take us to the dive site.

View of the city

Escubaaaaa!

My dive guide

All geared up!

Getting ready to go under.

Success! 

The scuba group.

Rio de Janeiro

Last weekend, May 20 to May 22, I traveled to Rio de Janeiro in the south of the country to visit my dear friend Ellie who is studying abroad within the city at PUC. I met Ellie during my summer volunteering in Panama and we  have been true friends every since although we are rarely ever in the same place. Rio is another world compared to Salvador. My time there reminded my how diverse Brazil is just like the United States. It is much cleaner, much more expensive, and much whiter. The culture is entirely different as well.

We did a mix of touristy things as well as non-touristy things. On Saturday I spent the morning and afternoon with Ellie's class on a field trip to an Movimento Sem Terra (MST) acampamento (camp)  --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landless_Workers'_Movement. It was a once in a lifetime experience. I was able to speak to people who are part of the movement and see what there lives are like. I hope to return to Rio someday soon and spend a significant amount of time there.

The scenery in the afternoon light at the MST Camp. 

Our friend who is part of the MST pulled out kilos upon kilos of manioc for us and we got to take it home.

Ellie and I enjoying fresh sugar cane during a long walk on the camp land.

Night out in Lapa, Rio de Janeiro. 

Corcovado

View from the Corcovado

Ipanema Beach

ISP Project Update

The final attempt at gaining access to the school was a success! The director of the school was very busy at the Ministry of Education and apologized for not being in her office during the many times I tried to meet with her. She had no absolutely no problems with my research and was extremely accommodating. She went so far as to help me gain access to classrooms and directed me as to where to go and which ones were best. For ten days I arrived at the school each morning and occasionally during the afternoons to hand in my questionnaires to students during class time. I divided my time between the Ensino Fundamental (middle grades) and the Ensino Medio (upper grades) which are on two different sites. I finished my primary data collection last Thursday, ahead of schedule. I have 70 questionnaires filled out by the students and a collection of interviews with administration and faculty about my topic. I am very pleased with how it is going and I believe that the students took my research more seriously than I thought they would, although there was still a lot of awkward giggling and whispering going on. My next task is to organize all of the data and analyze I so that I can begin writing my paper. 

Tentar de Novo…to try again

I have felt extremely organized and almost ahead of schedule this entire preparation time yet failed to realize that many times the researcher has very little control when doing research. You have to be flexible and adapt at any time.

I have been ahead of the game and met with my research advisor a week ago today because I had everything ready and wanted to begin my study as soon as possible. My advisor is a social worker in the historic district named Amelia Aruajo. She has 15 years of experience working with adolescents. She is short, wears square red classes that take up quite a bit of her round face, and is the giggliest person I know. She also loves to exclaim the word “joy!” or “everything’s joyful” at the hint of anything slightly positive. She is also very blunt, headstrong and to the point. I have decided the giggles and cute smile just mask the intense drive that she has. We work together very well and she is just as excited about my research.

In order for me to begin my study I need to get the final authorization of the director of the school that was chosen by Amelia, the academic director of SIT, Damiana, and I. I have had all of the documents ready to give her and just needed that last go ahead but it appears that she is never actually in her office or “directing” for that matter. Beginning last Tuesday, Amelia and I have made 4 attempts on 3 different days to track her down but she is never in her office and not even her own secretary knows her schedule. It has become extremely frustrating and disconcerting. It also doesn’t help that she takes Tuesdays and Fridays off and has meetings away from the school on Mondays, as I learned yesterday. I have received permission from both of the Vice-Directors, the school programs coordinator, and several teachers but that doesn’t mean anything without the authorization of the director of the school.

During these failed attempts to meet with the director, my motto has become “tentar de novo” or “to try again”. I have tried 4 times, yet I will just have to try again to find her and meet up with her. I have to be persistent in this research. My final attempt will be this Wednesday, tomorrow, being that she doesn’t work on Tuesdays. I have left the documents on her desk and will be visiting her office. I hope that she is in because this will be the last time that I do “try again” before I move on with my study and develop a different methodology.

Sexo e Camisinhas…sex and condoms.

I am less than a week into the 5 week Independent Research Project (ISP) component of my program. This is the final stage of the program and what we have all been building towards. After numerous hours spent researching, drafting and polishing proposals the time has finally come to do our primary research. We are all on our own now and have these 5 weeks to perform research and create a 40 page thesis paper on our topic that is related to public health in Brazil. Ready go!

Two excerpts from my final research proposal:

The founding question for this ISP is what are the understandings of sexual behavior and sexual health amongst 15-18 year old students of public schools in Salvador and where do they gather this knowledge from? More specifically, this ISP will investigate and analyze what knowledge adolescents are gaining from the PSE program in school, their peers, the media, and their families in respect to sexual contraceptives. This project will evaluate these four sources of sexual education to better understand adolescent knowledge of contraceptives, contraceptive use, and sexual health.

The purpose in conducting this research project is to understand where students are gaining their knowledge and understandings of sexual health education and sexual behavior and what behaviors they are learning from these sources of education. Students gain knowledge of contraceptives and contraceptive use from their family, peers, media, and their school sexual health education program. This project will assess what they are learning from each source of sexual education and examine how it is translating into their sexual behavior.

I am very excited about my topic. I wanted to incorporate my two interests of education and public health and am very pleased with my proposed study. I have never studied the topic of sexual education before but I became interested in sexual behavior and sexual health in Salvador after seeing some very provocative condom campaigns during and after carnival that would never be on huge billboards in the states. Brazil’s plan of attack on sexual health and views on sex are very different from the United States and very conflicting. The more I researched sexual education in schools I came to learn about all of the inconsistencies and conflicts within the Ministries of Health and Education, parents, and the church, resulting in very poor sexual education programs in schools.

So how am I going to answer my questions? I will perform my study in a public high school in Salvador. I will be passing out 70 questionnaires to students ages 15-18 and performing a smattering of 15 interviews with administration, teachers, and students from the school.

I know that this process will be trying but very fun. I am excited to see what I learn and whatever else comes out of this research. 

Apt 804, 324 Edificio Lancaster, Graça, Salvador, Bahia, Brasil

I’m currently drinking my early cup of coffee on my rooftop deck in the morning sun and staring at the ocean. I have been living in my new apartment for almost a week. This is probably one of the nicest places I will ever live. It is what I picture a bachelor pad would be but instead of a young, rich, single Brazilian man that is tall dark and handsome living here its three girls doing research on their university study abroad.      

I left Mama Josefa’s apartment on Wednesday morning and moved into the apartment with Carolyn and Callie, two of my friends from the program who are staying in Salvador during ISP period. Everything here has gone very smoothly and we are all appreciating our independence, rooftop patio with a view of the ocean, and our kitchen (which is also outdoors).  The place is beautiful, open, and very airy. Being here is very calming. There are windows on all sides and the breeze drifts in. It is quiet and I love being on the top floor. When it’s sunny out we can sun on the deck and I love that there is never really a dress code, unlike in my homestay. I can eat at whatever time and cook my own food. We also have internet which is something new for me and has been a great ease. The apartment building also has several doormen who are very friendly and have taken to like us quite a bit. We are a fifteen minute walk from my favorite beach, Porto da Barra, and the bus stop is right outside the apartment building.

I have no complaints and I constantly think how lucky I am. Life is good. 

Adventures in Santo Antonio de Jesus

Delicious Frutaroska de Kiwi and live music at Armazen Gourmet. 

Not sure the reason for the balloons but it was too great to pass up! 

View of Salvador from Itaparica Island. So nice to get a different perspective of home. 

On the beach at Barra do Gil, Itaparica Island.

A man bathing his herd of horses in the ocean. 

HIV/AIDS in Brazil

I just returned from a two week trip into the interior of Northeast Brazil to a small city called Santo Antonio de Jesus. I spent these two weeks at an HIV/AIDS clinic called CTA/SAE. I was there each day from 8 to 12 and 2 to 5 doing extensive learning and observing. It was one of the most academically stimulating experiences I have had in Brazil and I absolutely loved the time that I spent there. CTA/SAE is a testing, care, and treatment site that is free, universal, and sponsored by the Brazilian Ministry of Health.  It is a testament to the country’s dedication to combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic that rattled the country in the 1980s. Brazil is the best example of a developing country that has been able to measure up to the success of rich countries in the fight against AIDS. I find this absolutely remarkable and it gives me hope that other developing and underdeveloped countries can find their own ways to tackle the issue with the limited resources they have.

CTA/SAE serves the municipality of Santo Antonio and surrounding areas. The clinic has two doctors (obstetrician and infectologist), several nurses, nutritionists, psychologists and psychology interns, 3 lab technicians, a blood transporter, pharmacist and a receptionist. I was really impressed by the quality of care and how integrated the clinic was. Everybody there works as a tight-knit team and patients are able to access different types of free care all at one site. There are 108 patients with AIDS that receive medication from CTA and go into the pharmacy each month to have a consult and receive their anti-retroviral treatment scheme. Patients are able to receive their medication for absolutely no cost and this is the case within all of Brazil. Brazil produces generic forms of a variety of anti-retroviral therapy drugs within the country itself and has been able to knock back costs that way. Patients are also able to receive medication for opportunistic infections like Tuberculosis and STDS. Not only does CTA/SAE provide free care and treatment to those who have HIV/AIDS, but they provide free testing for HIV, Hepatitis and other STDs.  Something that I found really impressive was the preventative and education approach included with all aspects of the clinic. For example, each time a patient comes in to get tested they are given a small lesson about HIV/AIDS and STDs.  They are also talked to about diminishing the negative stigma behind HIV/AIDs which remains a big problem in Brazil.

Carolyn, another SIT student, and I were placed at CTA/SAE for those two weeks and were given an absolutely amazing opportunity that I would not have been given as a non pre-med undergraduate student in the United States. We were able to spend one on one time with each professional at the clinic asking whatever questions we wanted and given a small lesson on their area of expertise. We were also able to spend time with each professional during patient visits. Many times we were introduced as doctors from the United States doing research here so that the patients would understand and accept us in the room. I feel so fortunate to have been able to really observe up close how the clinic worked and also how HIV/AIDS works in Brazil. I also learned a lot about HIV/AIDS and the science behind it. I ended the two weeks with a specialization and massive interest in HIV/AIDS and more specifically HIV/AIDS in Brazil.

The team of people that works at CTA/SAE are so full of love and have the biggest hearts. They deal with very serious situations all day long but always have smiles on their faces. They are all extremely close with one another and the patients. It is a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere that was contagious with positivity. It was a pleasure get to know them so well and I will never forget them. I couldn’t have imagined a better placement during my time in Santo Antonio de Jesus. I feel that I really took all that I could out of the experience.

HIV/AIDS does not have to defeat in today’s world. I will never forget what the psychologist told a patient during a clinic visit. She said, “HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence in Brazil. People are able to live happy, healthy, and long lives”. I now understand that this is true and how it is true. I witnessed it myself at CTA/SAE. The government has made it possible due to its vigorous dedication to the issue, providing free care and treatment, and a focus on prevention and education. 

Pharmacist, Lab Tech, Me, Receptionist, Carolyn, Lab Tech

Don't pass syphilis to your child...Get tested! Stop vertical transmission. 

Outside of the clinic.

Giant condom playing the berimbau.