Marangu Hillls Academy

Today was our first day at Marangu Hills, though the students were busy with their monthly examinations. We were able to meet once with the girls and have our first counseling session. We spoke to them about HIV, puberty, and coping with a changing body and changing feelings about yourself and others. We are having some trouble getting the girls comfortable and willing to ask questions. The culture here, especially at the school, is not very conducive to moving outside of your comfort zone and asking questions, so we spent the majority of the time lecturing. It is also difficult because girls here seem to not only develop more slowly than in the States, but many of them are at radically different stages of development.

The school was a little apprehensive about teaching extensively about HIV. I think they fear that speaking to girls about condoms or sex may provoke behaviors that such a Christian school condemns. We are going to try to work with the teachers to develop a curriculum that deals with HIV/AIDS that is informative, creative, and won’t put ideas into their heads about what is expected of them at their age.