26-29
The results of The promotoras’ work over the past few years have been
impressive. The first big change occurred in the promotoras themselves. Early
discussions of the role of Honduran women had shown a very low ‘self-image’
among the promotoras, who spoke of themselves as ‘breeders’, not much
different from their farm animals in terms of function and role.
But in the process of group dialogue, the promotoras began to question their
inferior position in relation to men, and their role as little more than ‘breeders’.
Their self-confidence also grew as they experienced success in their work.
With few exceptions, the women saw their role as one of service to their fellow
women, and of helping to bring about a more just social order. Their training
through group dialogue had helped them to see themselves as ‘teacher/learners’
and to relate to other women as friends and equals, rather than bossing them
about as had many of the health workers before them. As a result, a spirit of
cooperation and concern developed among the women they worked with.
Some of the accomplishments of the promotoras have been outstanding. It is
reported that in every village where there is a promotora, members of the Club
de Amas de Casa (housewives’ club) now boil drinking water as a preventive
health measure.” This is particularly impressive when it is considered that health
workers before them had been trying for 25 years to get the women to boil their
water, without success.
The promotoras also have
been successful in organizing
the women in activities beyond
the area of health. When
the men in one village failed
to finish building a school,
the women abandoned their
typical sex role, walked down
the mountain, and returned
carrying lumber on their backs.
They completed the school
themselves.
They completed the school themselves.
Thepromotoras have become active in land reform as well, helping to organize
the people and make them aware of their legal rights. In Honduras, large parcels
of land are held by persons who started out with smaller plots, but little by little
moved their fences to include more and more land. (This has given rise to the
popular saying. The fence posts walk at night.) The campesinos (poor farm
people) in Olancho have begun to take back the illegally held land. Although at first
some violence resulted, most of the campesinos have been able to keep the land
they reclaimed.
The promotoras of Olancho have done far more for the long-term health of
their people than have the regional health programs with their large budgets and
government support. The promotoras’ success has resulted from their ability to
awaken their fellow women to their own capacity to combat the underlying social
causes of their problems.
*See the discussion of ‘to boil or not to boll’ on page 15-3.