Reproductive Health Workshop

AMA & FUNDAP REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH WORKSHOP

The valley community of Santa Catarina Ixtahucan consists of five villages. Eight health promoters of AMA working in area of Santa Catarina participated in a reproductive health workshop on Tuesday October 26 of this year. The workshop was hosted by FUNDAP, a development foundation. FUNDAP coordinated with AMA in order to guide and train 15 health workers. For this activity, AMA did outreach and facilitated transportation to the city of Quetzaltenango.

The symposium was truly impacting for many, including Pascuala Sohom. She is an AMA member who currently lacks the ability to read or write proficiently. Pascuala found the activity engaging and could easily understand the information presented. Unfortunately, some of her fellow community members do not support her participation in AMA and were especially skeptical when they heard Pascuala was training to be health promoter. “People are accustomed to receiving everything without sacrifice and effort.” This workshop is challenging assumptions about aid because it requires attendance and interaction. Pascuala has a new awareness of reproductive health and sexually transmitted diseases. “The importance of sexual health cannot be understated because communities do not encourage dialog, but now I am informed and comfortable discussing this with my family and friends.” The reverberations of these presentations will be incredibly profound, especially  for those with little to no access to health information.

Three presentations were given by FUNDAP volunteers, Importance of Breastfeeding, Sexual Health and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Afterward, everyone received a diploma in order to document their involvement. This creates legitimacy for the health promoters. Community members will be more open to the sometimes strange and challenging new information. “AMA encourages us to share this vital knowledge with our colleagues, families and neighbors. We need financial support to replicate these events as we have no resources for transportation. We appreciate AMA’s involvement and hope they will support us in the future.”

“AMA’s impact can not be assessed for everyone in the community but we feel that participation of men and women on these topics are great for promoting gender equality.” Issues about sexual health are many times avoided due to ignorance or embarrassment, which explains its need in communities. Now the participants can return to their friends and family with tools and the knowledge to improve lives.After each presentation the audience was encouraged to ask questions and discuss the material that was covered.