With the help of two summer volunteers, Perry and Priya, hundreds upon hundreds of Ecuadorian men, women, and young *marathon runners now know how to correctly put on a condom (apparently, many Ecuadorian women are taught how to put condoms on with their mouth so they can put them on discreetly without their male partners' objections); how to pin various artificial contraceptives on the correct anatomical region; how to utilize a string of beads as a standard method of birth control; how and where to insert an intrauterine device; the relationship between cervical mucus and fertility, and also the fact that you are just as likely to get pregnant if you're on top relative to your male partner than if you're on the bottom.
Public reception was incredibly warm and positive, which made us feel accepted and welcomed. People were actually interested in what we had to say and offer (granted we did give out **free t-shirts thanks to Jens and Healthechildren as well as Cycle Beads). I'm very thankful to the MoH for trusting us with our own tent, giving us the freedom to whatever we wanted with it, and letting us participate in their grand parade. All the hard work was well worth it in the end :)
*kids ages 6-11 racing in a 4k "marathon"
**IF they answer their question correctly
Perry, Holly and I proudly representing MPI and Healthechildren at the MoH parade
"Choose a question. You will receive a free t-shirt if answered correctly. Good luck!"
Our Family Planning (by Perry and Priya) + MPI posters (by Holly)
Our tent was PACKED the entire duration of the health fair
We were pretty popular, relatively speaking
"Yes, your pene has to be erect when you take off the condom."
Me with some of my favorite MoH staff
Proudly marching in the parade
Perry is quite the crowd pleaser :)
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