Teaching sex ed in Cameroon

I met an American nurse who started some AIDS education classes for pastors' wives at a remote Cameroonian seminary.

She quickly realized sex education was necessary first for the women to even have a clue what she was talking about.

With the help of a fluent Pidgin speaker, she was trying to talk about sexual intercourse and not at all sure her students were understanding.

"Do you have a way of saying it other than 'come together'?" she asked.

Her translator, a young, unmarried woman, blushed and didn't know how to answer.

There was a pause while women in the class conferred, then finally an older woman stood up. "Yes, Ma," she said, in the formal, respectful way. "We just say 'fuck'."

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