A REPORT FROM THE HEALTH WORKERS

At lunchtime today we had cooked yucca along with the usual menu of rice, beans and cooked meat. It tastes like potato. During lunch we had a chance to get a firsthand reports from two of the health promoter graduates, Celestina, from the village of Hacha and Otilia, from the village of Camaron Arriba. Celistina thanked us for the training. She has helped deliver 12 babies, given out medicines for diarrhea, taught sanitation and generally taught her village people about hand washing and techniques for purifying water.

Otilia has been doing the same things in her area. She also spoke about a woman who came to her for protection from an abusive husband. She could protect her because she has the respect of the people she works with due to being a graduate of the health promoter program. Otilia has placed ten latrines in homesteads. She says there are many more families who would like to have latrines. When some of the people from her village questioned the presence of bacteria in their water supply she held up her diploma and said, “I know! I have seen them at the Health Promoter School.”

It was gratifying to see that our mission has helped improve the life of many of the poorest people in Panama. There are more and more Ngobe villages with safe water and safe waste disposal. Injuries are cared for by our graduates and those with more serious problems are referred to the government clinics where the fact that the referral is from a Methodist Health Promoter is considered part of a chain of credible medical care.