A Health Promoter Program of Salud y Paz
“For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, rather serve one another through love.” Galatians 5:13
“Las Amigas” is a diverse group of women and men from the rural highlands who meet once a month in the clinic at Camanchaj. Each participant has the desire to improve the spiritual and physical health of themselves, their families, neighborhoods, and communities. Their educational meetings cover a wide array of topics, but ultimately work towards illness prevention and promotion of health and hygiene. A course consisting of 3 week long training sessions is held each 18 months, with 6 months in between each course. This allows the attendees to practice what they have learned for before the next training. The First Course teaches basic sanitation, germ theory, personal hygiene, dental hygiene, disinfecting fruits and vegetables, nutrition, fever and oral rehydration. The Second Course consists primarily of First Aid topics but also includes public speaking and an emphasis on small group learning. The students recieve a First Aid Kit, common remedies are discussed and some “wives tales” are debunked. Additionally, intramuscular injections and the Heimlich maneuver are taught and practiced. In the Third Course they study the female body, male and female reproductive organs, family planning, pregnancy, labor and delivery, menopause, breast cancer, and STI’s, and self-esteem. With an emphasis on “learner as teacher,” the Amigas are equipped with the knowledge and tools to share what they have learned with others so they can empower people to prevent serious disease by changing the conditions which cause it and to detect and/or treat illness in its earliest stage. ”Las Amigas” was started in April of 2003 with 12 indigenous Mayan women by Margie Groshong, an RN from Eugene, Oregon. The program now has over 60 graduates who have helped numerous people in the communities they serve.
“One of my sister-in-laws was choking and the first thing that I did was give her ‘compressions.’ After, what she swallowed came out.” That is a quote from one of the students of the Amigas classes who had just taken the Second Course in which the Heimlich maneuver was taught. “My first aid kit was a great help to me because I was able to clean some wounds with the other materials such as the cotton, alcohol, etc,…I gave Tylenol for pain.” Sonia Bocel, age 25 from Camanchaj, describes how she has used her knowledge of first aid. Maria Tecun, 28 years, from Xepocol, states, “I have meetings with women from my community in my home. I have taught personal hygiene, eating a well-balanced meal and about malnourished children.”
