So, what did you do this past summer? Some of you may have traveled to tropical islands on enormous cruise ships, or perhaps visited the European countryside. You might have worked all summer, or maybe you just hung out and enjoyed the time off from school. Junior Natalie McCabe, on the other hand, spent her break traveling to some rather unusual destinations - dozens of India's high schools and colleges.
McCabe is a member of Tufts' chapter of VISIONS Worldwide (Volunteering International Students in Organizing Never-Ending Service), which focuses on promoting AIDS/HIV awareness in developing countries. Last June, McCabe, along with 18 of her peers, left for India to present a series of programs on sex and HIV prevention to the country's youth.
Due to the location of the programs, McCabe may have stuck out a little. "I was one of three white students on the trip," McCabe remembered. "Everyone else was South Asian."
South Asia is the primary focus of VISONS's efforts. McCabe pointed out that while Africa has the highest number of AIDS cases, India has recently had the highest number of HIV cases, meaning that the number of people with AIDS in India will soon surpass that of Africa.
McCabe's two-month experience in India began with a short training period in Washington, D.C. From there, the student volunteers were divided into three groups that left for different cities in India. McCabe's group traveled to Bombay, where they stayed in a rented apartment. Armed with brochures, posters, and condoms, the students visited a number of high schools in the region.
While most principals and school administrators were grateful for the students' efforts, some were not so thrilled. "Sex is a taboo subject in India," McCabe explained. "Some would listen to what we planned to talk about, and they would say things like, 'No condom demonstration.'"
For the most part, the principals were very receptive to the program. According to McCabe, Bombay had just recently passed legislation mandating sex education into school curriculum. Unfortunately, the typical purveyors of this new information were adults, such as doctors. McCabe spoke with many principals who felt that VISIONS' peer education approach would prove to be more effective with India's students.
The presentations that McCabe and the other volunteers gave were very direct, no-holds-barred discussions structured in a debate style. McCabe felt that the students were very intelligent, and didn't hesitate to ask lots of questions. "Sometimes we didn't even have time to get to all the questions," McCabe said.
This doesn't mean that the students weren't surprised to see a group of girls speaking so candidly about sex.
"The 14-year-olds would sit with their mouths hanging down to the floor," McCabe said, though she sees a strong similarity between these kids halfway around the world and the kids here in the states - they're all educated, they all speak English, and they all think: "'It can't happen to me.'"
McCabe recalled one incident from her trip in particular detail. "I remember standing in a school hallway trying to explain to a group of younger girls what oral sex was," McCabe said. The girls were astonished that a female would come in and talk so candidly about such a subject.
The VISIONS volunteers talked to older students, up to 22-years-old, during the two-month stint as well.
"What fascinated me was that the students looked to us as authorities. We tried to emphasize that we were just college or medical students as many of them were, and that we just wanted to spread awareness about a problem that was just as real for us in the United States," McCabe said in a recent Boston Globe article.
In order to make her trip to India possible, McCabe needed to raise funds upwards of $2000. At the time, she didn't think raising that amount of money on her own was even possible. She began by asking her family, friends, and past teachers. Her advisor at Tufts, though, recommended going to the school's administrators, and it paid off - McCabe received $2000 between Provost Sol Gittleman and Dean of the Colleges for Undergraduate Education Charles Inouye. She also received an additional $500 from the Somekh Social Justice Fund, established by Scott Roehm (LA '99), Alex Shalom (LA '99), and Talli Somekh (EN '99), after seeing a flyer for the fund around campus.
"I had absolutely no idea that so much money was available at Tufts. I don't think enough students know about it," McCabe said.
In total, she took in about $4000 for the trip, about double what she needed to raise. The extra money was used for just that - extras. McCabe's group bought more condoms to distribute to students, printed more brochures, and created more posters for the program.
Besides her trip to India, McCabe is also active in Tufts' VISIONS chapter. Those free condoms in the dining halls - that's thanks to VISIONS' efforts. The chapter also periodically cooks dinner for Boston area residents infected with HIV, and is currently working on a holiday a capella concert for children with the virus.
McCabe estimates that the VISIONS membership at Tufts is about 150 to 200 students - not bad for a program that has less than ten chapters in the United States. The University will host a retreat for the group of national chapters this November.
