Lessons from RBRC: Sex is...sex, wherever you may be. Awkward, interesting, important to talk about.

It seems that no matter what I am doing, I constantly have a thought of India in the back of my mind. In class, I daydream about the brightly colored saris and chai stands on the street corners. While doing homework, I think about how I would much prefer playing Phase 10 with the four wonderful women I lived with in Ahmedabad. The birds in North Carolina seem slightly average after the sarus cranes we saw while driving through lovely Gujarati countryside. I even get slightly nostalgic for laundry done in buckets and sweating more than anyone should biologically be able to.

My memories are flooded with images of the children we worked with, the Field Assistants who quickly became our lifelong friends, and the other people we met along the way. One of my fondest memories is of my group of girls from RBRC, an all-girls school in the Old City. The class named themselves “Team Happy Banana,” inspired by the fabulous Banana Song. Every morning, the girls rushed into the classroom, pinching Rina-ben’s cheeks, shoving pictures they had colored for us into our arms, and standing at their desks with their brightly decorated journals and pencils out, ready to begin.

Sadie McCleary, India volunteer, with girls
from "Team Happy Banana." 

Throughout camp, all of the games and lessons were played and listened to with an eagerness and enthusiasm that was unique to RBRC. Whenever an idea was presented about the environment or HIV/AIDS, the girls wanted to know more and to ask as many questions as possible. The atmosphere of the classroom was completely exhilarating, and I quickly grew attached to Team Happy Banana.

By the time Female Empowerment, my favorite section of the World Camp Curriculum, rolled around, I was beyond excited to see how the group would respond to the information. I was incredibly confident that an intense and fulfilling discussion would ensue, and everything would run smoothly. Instead, the next two hours that passed were filled with screaming, students standing on benches in order to yell over their peers, a little bit of crying, and absolute chaos. To help control some of the general disorder that had taken over the room, I passed out blank paper for the girls to write anonymous questions on. This quickly turned into a game of guessing and taunting who wrote what question. My frustration was mounting, close to tears myself, and Naini, the Field Assistant with me, looked like she may never come back to work with us.

Sadie and Naini Chokshi, Field Assistant, with Std. 9 girls
at RBRC Girls Secondary School in the Old City.
Ahmedabad, India July 2010. 

Then, as quickly as pandemonium had taken over the classroom, amidst mockery and snickering, I also heard shushing and pleas for other girls to be quiet. Even though they were acting rowdy and disinterested, most of the girls were actively listening while trying hard to look like they were not. I began answering the anonymous questions, and girls started asking other questions, and eventually we ran out of time. After class, some of the students came up and asked me things they were too embarrassed to ask in front of the class. Despite losing my voice from yelling and needing a very strong cup of coffee, it was one of the most successful (but definitely the most overwhelming) empowerment sessions that I was able to be a part of.

Now, when I encounter uncomfortable conversations about important topics such as sexual health, anatomy, and sexual assault, I remember the RBRC classroom and how even though the girls seemed completely disengaged and ready to leave, they actually were interested and needed to know the answers to all of those anonymous questions. It is funny that the same awkwardness related to sex can be encountered all across the world!




Written by: Sadie Ann McCleary, India Volunteer Summer 2010

**Part II in a series of reflections on how we internalize what we learn abroad into who we are back home. Email submissions to info@worldcampforkids.org or katy@worldcampforkids.org. Articles, thoughts, poems, quotes, pictures, etc. are welcome!**