I brought snacks and had my phone fully charged for the ride. Some people were going over their notes and practicing. I thought I had everything together. I was texting my boyfriend and telling him that the day was finally here. He was proud of me; I kept him up plenty of nights teaching him the module. I should have brought him to the ceremony; I’m pretty sure he could teach it back to everyone. While traveling to Wayne State University our GPS directions were horrible. We kept passing the place for some reason. We ended up driving on the sidewalk in order to find the exact building. I am not sure if it was legal for us to drive on the campus sidewalk, but the police did not come out and arrest us. We finally met Mirna at the library. Mirna is one of the females of the Z Collective group.
When we met them, they were so upbeat and glad to have us there to teach. Mirna, one of the women from the group, introduced us to the other girls and they all embraced us happily (some of the girls even kissed me on the cheek). Immediately Amanda, one of the females from Z Collective, explained to us how happy she was that we were there to teach to them. At that moment I was so excited to go in that room in their campus’ library and teach them some information they did not know clearly. It was great to know that they were as eager as I was. I have listened to other groups talk about the people that they have taught, and I have always wondered what our people would be like. They were great!
As my group walked up to the board you could see fright on some faces. I was smiling and just as upbeat as the girls. It was as if their happiness was spreading across the room. At the board I was standing there listening to what my group-mates were teaching and looking in the audience, patiently awaiting my turn to teach the longest portion. I taught AIDS and FACTS of the module. All I remember thinking was: Am I still talking? It seemed like I was talking forever; I almost froze because I thought I was talking so much. Finally my turn was over, and Kashira closed perfectly. At the end everyone in the audience, and me and Kashira fist-pumped and she told me I did a good job. That was nice to hear.
Z Collective had a surprise for us. Some of the members had prepared the module in Arabic. This was never done before. I had no idea they were preparing just as much as we were, but even more. Mirna and Khalil got up in front of us and taught the module back to us in Arabic. They admitted that they were nervous. It was like looking at myself from our teacher perspective when they watched us. Although I did not comprehend what they were saying, I felt their vibe and it was great. Afterward they explained to us a little more about their culture and how their families react to HIV/AIDS. It was interesting to learn that in their culture there is stigma as well.
According to Freire, “A real humanist can be identified more by his trust in the people which engages him in their struggle than by a thousand actions in their favor.” To me this quote means that many people do things for themselves and not for the people. This also says to me that people may do one thing toward activism for a personal gain, and will say that they will continue for the people. That does not happen all of the time. Change does not come when you do one teaching, you have to continue. Mirna told us that she was going to continue to teach the module in her communities, but would she?
My fellow classmates and I have learned and taught the module, but we are receiving a grade at the end of the semester. We all even went around the room and said what teaching to our designated groups meant to us. Some even went on to say that they want to continue on this track of educating people about HIV/AIDS, but will they? Or will they just use this experience as an add-on to their resume and never think back on that day again? Nesha told us that a lot of people say that they want to continue in this line of work, and that they want to work more with her. They do not always come back. I wonder who in my class will actually keep their word. Me, I want to continue teaching people about HIV/AIDS, whether it is with Nesha or not. The looks on the participants faces at the ceremony touched my heart.
