Health Promoter School

One of the components of the mission is to operate the Health Promoter School. The Ngobes live on a reservation in very primitive conditions; palm thatched huts, cooking over open fires, little or primitive sanitary facilities. They receive some health support from the government and have access to health care when a mission team provides it—which is infrequently. For instance, the last Methodist medical team was here in July. The health promoter project is a way of offering local, indigenous people needed health support. We have trained thirteen Ngobe men and women who have been sent by their villages to learn basic health, nutrition and sanitation skills. They receive three weeks of training receive before graduating from the school as local health promoters. They are to return to their villages and have the knowledge to help make life better there. The government is enthusiastic about the program and supports the cooperative effort with the Iglesia Evangelistica Methodista de Panama.

One day is devoted to orientation-- program overview and goals. Another is devoted to sanitation: water purification, disease prevention and basic health procedures. The school also cover family nutrition and infant nutrition. In addition to the nursing educators Jane Dunn, Linda Elsik, and Janet Ross, Kay Potenza- microbiology, Bronwen Kram- water purification. We show them how to improve their diets using locally available ingredients. Then they cooked their own lunch using the recipes. Since most of the Ngobe women tend to cook only beans and rice every day this is a welcome introduction to variety in the diet. It was sort of like Rachel Ray comes to the Ngobe homeland.

Promoting community based health education is one of the priority ministries of the United Methodist Church.