Yesterday a tutor from Dublin AIDS allowance came to the housing project on North Circular Road to give a talk on sexual health to the service users there. It was fascinating to say the least, not least from my own point of view.
The tutor was excellent, very professional and thorough while managing to be entertaining, approachable, relaxed and open at the same time. You quickly felt at ease and her manner inspired confidence and trust. You knew immediately you could ask her anything without embarassment or fear of being judged. Considering that there were approximately 28 people in total living in this house, I was surprised at the low turnout for the talk, considering the subject matter! Only 4 service users in total attended,one awfully obese lady had to be almost literally dragged from bed (where I understand she spends most of her time) and one reluctant gentleman sat in on the talk halfway through the presentation, just at the point where the tutor was demonstrating the symptoms of syphilis on the screen. Nasty viewing! I almost thought I was going to lose my breakfast and could barely look at the screen!
I observed the ladies who had attended the talk throughout the presentation and one thing that struck me was how streetwise they were in many ways, yet how naive when it came to their own sexual health. I guessed that none of them had ever had ever had any sort of talk about sexual health as a child or teenager and their knowledge was gained from pieced together anecdotes, gossip and chat and from painful personal experience. Many of the facts about the various STDs including AIDS were news to me and I had questions of my own but it was obvious from the questions that one lady asked that many myths still abounded such as the possibility of catching an STD from a toilet seat.
I noticed the girl I'd seen the last time I had been there-the girl who had the awful, weeping sore on her leg. She was looking much better than the last time I'd seen her and looked alert and "with it". Incidentally, her leg was much improved although still incredibly swollen looking. She must have been to see a doctor in the interval between my first visit to the home and today. She seemed interested in the presentation and participated actively asking questions. Of the 3 ladies who attended, she was the youngest and seemed to have the most knowledge of some of the STDs. As it turned out, she was speaking from personal experience as she informed the tutor that she herself had Hepatitis C. I know next to nothing about Hepatitis C but from my Google research, it seems it primarily is spread by blood-to-blood contact associated with intravenous drug use. The same girl matter of factly referred to the fact that she'd had an abortion at one point but it seemed from what she said that she hadn't really understood what had happened to her or what the doctors had been doing to her at the time.....it also appeared from what she was saying that she had also undergone a smear test but hadn't understood what this was or why she'd had one.
The ladies were polite and interested and particularly enjoyed the practical demonstrations, especially when the tutor showed them how to put a condom on properly (things have moved on from bananas it seems, she had a dildo for the occasion!) and passed around a female condom (which I'd never seen myself) and some scented mouth guards for use when performing oral sex! There was plenty of eye rolling from the gentleman who attended, some lewd (but harmless) jokes directed his way and lots of laughter.
All in all, an interesting day.....
The tutor was excellent, very professional and thorough while managing to be entertaining, approachable, relaxed and open at the same time. You quickly felt at ease and her manner inspired confidence and trust. You knew immediately you could ask her anything without embarassment or fear of being judged. Considering that there were approximately 28 people in total living in this house, I was surprised at the low turnout for the talk, considering the subject matter! Only 4 service users in total attended,one awfully obese lady had to be almost literally dragged from bed (where I understand she spends most of her time) and one reluctant gentleman sat in on the talk halfway through the presentation, just at the point where the tutor was demonstrating the symptoms of syphilis on the screen. Nasty viewing! I almost thought I was going to lose my breakfast and could barely look at the screen!
I observed the ladies who had attended the talk throughout the presentation and one thing that struck me was how streetwise they were in many ways, yet how naive when it came to their own sexual health. I guessed that none of them had ever had ever had any sort of talk about sexual health as a child or teenager and their knowledge was gained from pieced together anecdotes, gossip and chat and from painful personal experience. Many of the facts about the various STDs including AIDS were news to me and I had questions of my own but it was obvious from the questions that one lady asked that many myths still abounded such as the possibility of catching an STD from a toilet seat.
I noticed the girl I'd seen the last time I had been there-the girl who had the awful, weeping sore on her leg. She was looking much better than the last time I'd seen her and looked alert and "with it". Incidentally, her leg was much improved although still incredibly swollen looking. She must have been to see a doctor in the interval between my first visit to the home and today. She seemed interested in the presentation and participated actively asking questions. Of the 3 ladies who attended, she was the youngest and seemed to have the most knowledge of some of the STDs. As it turned out, she was speaking from personal experience as she informed the tutor that she herself had Hepatitis C. I know next to nothing about Hepatitis C but from my Google research, it seems it primarily is spread by blood-to-blood contact associated with intravenous drug use. The same girl matter of factly referred to the fact that she'd had an abortion at one point but it seemed from what she said that she hadn't really understood what had happened to her or what the doctors had been doing to her at the time.....it also appeared from what she was saying that she had also undergone a smear test but hadn't understood what this was or why she'd had one.
The ladies were polite and interested and particularly enjoyed the practical demonstrations, especially when the tutor showed them how to put a condom on properly (things have moved on from bananas it seems, she had a dildo for the occasion!) and passed around a female condom (which I'd never seen myself) and some scented mouth guards for use when performing oral sex! There was plenty of eye rolling from the gentleman who attended, some lewd (but harmless) jokes directed his way and lots of laughter.
All in all, an interesting day.....
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