Health Project: self esteem, contraceptives and research
Our first week of the Shimoni Health Care Project has
now come to an end, and we both agree that it has been a great introduction to
project-life in Shimoni. Our first few
days were spent getting to know the staff at the local health dispensary and familiarising
ourselves with the procedures and facilities there. We were also given a guided
tour of Shimoni Village, including the schools we will be teaching at and local
sites of interest.
At the request of the Public Health Officer Patrick and
the dispensary staff we have commenced research into nutrition and the effects
of vitamin deficiencies, contraception and HIV/AIDS prevention, and pre and
post natal care in preparation for the Dispensary’s community health talks. Yesterday we were present at a contraception and STI
prevention community health talk, which involved education and demonstrations
on the use of various types of contraceptives. We made a PowerPoint presentation
to aid delivery of information, which staff and participants both found useful.
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| Patrick (Public Health Officer) demonstrates how to use a femidon |
We also taught Life skills classes at
Shimoni Junior Academy and at Shimoni Secondary School. These
classes focused on the importance of having high self esteem, obstacles to
achieving high self esteem, and ways of overcoming these obstacles. Self esteem
was a new concept to most students. However they caught on quickly and were
keen to share their own stories of when they experienced high and low self-esteem.
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| Asha, Dani and students from Shimoni Junior explore the meaning of self esteem |
Next week we hope to complete research on sustainable
farming methods,as a means of minimizing the nutritional deficiencies within
the Shimoni community. We aim to present our findings, with the assistance of
the dispensary staff, in an interactive format to members of Shimoni community. We have both thoroughly enjoyed our first week on the
Shimoni Health Care Project, and are excited to continue our work in the weeks
ahead.
Ashley Hall and Dani Strongman – Health Project
volunteers
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