6-3
Example: One program, located in a huge ‘lost city’ near the capital of Mexico,
starts training by sending each student to visit 15 families in the poorest
colonias (neighborhoods). The students try to help the families solve their
health problems as best they can—through self-care when possible, or through
public clinics and services. In this way, the students get to know the people and
their hardships. They also discover the strengths and failings of the city’s health
and social services. The content of the training course is planned by the
students and instructors together, according to the needs and problems
that they see during these home visits.
Another example: Project Piaxtla also makes home visits a key part of health
worker training. Each Saturday, the students plan what they hope to
accomplish, then spend half the day visiting families. Each student always
visits the same 8 or 10 homes. The main purpose of the visits is to listen
to what people have to say. The students ask the families’ opinions about
community activities, and encourage their ideas and participation. They
sometimes give suggestions about preventing or managing health problems.
But they take care not to tell people what they ought to do. Perhaps for this
reason, and because they rarely use formal questionnaires, in most homes the
students are well received.
4. Having student health workers carry out activities in local communities
during their training. In some training programs, students take part in some or all of
the following:
• Under-fives and nutrition projects.
Students visit nearby villages, hold
meetings to plan activities, demonstrate
ways of preparing food, conduct feeding
programs for children, train mothers as
nutrition volunteers, etc. (see p. 22-12 and
25-6,7,9, and 36).
• Cooperation with villagers in building
latrines, garbage disposal areas, water
systems, or rat-proof bins for grain
storage.
• Vaccination campaigns in neighboring
villages (with educational programs for
parents and children).
• CHILD-to-child activities. Health workers
meet with children in the local schools, or
with groups of non-school children (see
Ch. 24).
• Village clean-up campaigns with children
and adults.
• Working with village people in family and
community vegetable gardens.
• Helping to run a local cooperative or corn’
bank.
• Health festivals and circuses (see p. 27-12).
• Theater and puppet shows with mothers
and children (see Ch. 27).