Knowledge is Power

One of our goals of this trip was to plan a women's group where people could come and talk about issues in the community, about their health, lifestyle, and daily difficulties. We had discussed
our group for 8 months prior to this trip and had some worries about the success and the sustainability of the group. Prior to arriving, we had Dr.Dieula tell people in the community Bois De Lance
about the group we would be having on Tuesdays at 4 pm. Dr. Dieula warned us that only 10 women may show up due to lack of knowledge about what the program may entail.

At 4 pm 6 women were sitting in the courtyard area where the group was to be held. We were happy to see those 6 people because we had prepared to talk about breast self exams and the anatomy of a woman. Typical of Haitian time, people started arriving in groups of 2-3 and eventually over 40 women were present for our discussion (this might be because they heard we were handing out cookies and cold beverages haha).

Hope opened the discussion with a beautiful guitar song 'How great thou art' and soon enough the women were all singing along in perfect time (with the help of our
translator and beautiful musical director, Sandra). We discussed breast self exams and had women demonstrate how to do them and answer questions about why to do them and what to do if
they notice changes in their breast. We went on to discuss human anatomy, urinary tract infections and intestinal problems that we had been seeing frequently in our clinics. Women showed interest
 and asked great questions about the body and their health and even described experiences they had with health care and abnormal breast exams. Lastly we discussed that women have a urethra and a vagina as some of the women in Haitians are not taught this basic anatomy (they thought it was only one hole)! We were amazed by the enthusiasm and participation of the group and felt blessed to be a part of the session.

The women told us some subjects they would like to talk about in the coming weeks including mental health and violence. We closed the session with Amazing Grace and when Haitian women sing boy is it a beautiful sound.

The success of our first week was rewarding because not only did we have a group of women motivated to learn more about their health, but we also found a lovely nurse willing to take over the group!

In the coming weeks we hope to share healthy snacks and teach about  nutrition to the women and continue to sing and learn together.

Pictures to follow tomorrow:)