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322 women are changing Colombia from the Public Health sector

  • Writer: Sinergias
    Sinergias
  • Mar 8, 2016
  • 3 min read
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  • On Women's Day, Sinergias calls for recognition of the work of traditional midwives, health professionals and community leaders for development in remote areas.


  • These 322 women have participated in projects related to primary health care, perinatal care, maternal and child health, the fight against gender-based violence and the prevention of HIV and adolescent pregnancy.


  • Heidi González, a nursing assistant from La Guajira, and Pacha Pasmo, a midwife from Chocó, are examples of how women from ethnic groups promote health and local development in their communities.


  • Sinergias has worked hand in hand with women in most of the country. Almost 80% of the people Sinergias has worked with at the national and local levels are women.


Indigenous and Afro-Colombian women, as well as other local leaders, play a fundamental role in improving public health in the country: in 31 departments, 200 municipalities and more than 40 indigenous settlements throughout the country, they have led significant transformations, together with Sinergias, in the last 5 years. Each of them is generating opportunities and spaces for their communities by teaching good health practices and promoting local knowledge for disease prevention.


Projects developed in 31 departments of Colombia by Sinergias and focused on issues affecting women, such as maternal mortality, teenage pregnancy, gender violence, among others, have led several Colombian women from Uribia in La Guajira, through Istmina in Chocó and reaching Vaupés to work for the health of their ethnic groups and communities.

Colombian women changing lives


"They are not only health agents, they are community managers. They articulate knowledge and practices with the needs of the communities, thus enhancing local development. When we work to strengthen their capacities, we are pleased to see among them mothers or daughters who are interested in learning and helping their communities in the most remote areas of the country," says Ana Blanco, Public Health Coordinator of Sinergias.


To date, around 80% of the people who have worked with Sinergias in more than 20 projects are women, thus contributing to their empowerment and to processes that seek to improve access to health in remote areas. This work is expected to have greater relevance in the post-conflict period: they will be the driving force behind the coexistence processes within the communities.


Women who make Synergies


Heidi González, the wayuu nurse


In the middle of the aridity of the middle Guajira, three hours from Uribia, appears the village of Tres Bocas, the homeland of Heidi, a 26-year-old Wayuu who works with Sinergias in the Seres de Cuidado project. In addition to her traditional colorful blanket, she always wears a big smile and an unwavering spirit to develop her work as a nurse, health and welfare manager of the nearly 200 families she accompanied with this project.


Although she learned Spanish from the age of 8 at the boarding school in San José de Uribia, where she completed her basic education, her love for her roots and ancestral values were never lost; on the contrary, they grew as she saw the worrisome public health situation in her region.


As a Wayuunaiki speaker, Heidi's work was fundamental to communicate with the communities and to allow us to understand how to work better with the Wayuu population.


Pacha Pasmo


Almost 8,000 people, including Colombians, Brazilians and Peruvians, have come into the world thanks to Francisca Córdoba, Pacha Pasmo, a 53-year-old Afro-descendant woman who has been a midwife for 28 years in the municipality of Istmina, Chocó.


Pacha is another great example of the women trained by Sinergias. She combines her ancestral knowledge with Western knowledge. Being part of the community, she understands and responds to the needs of pregnant women and their families, which is why they trust her. This is evidenced by the number of deliveries she attends per year, which far exceeds the institutional deliveries in many of the region's municipalities.


"I started since I was a child watching my grandmother María Santos Rentería. She taught me and from the first moment I loved watching that moment when the baby comes out and meets the world," says Pacha.


While Sinergias has helped hundreds of women by hiring and training them to improve their skills so that they can continue to positively transform their communities, there are still great challenges to making gender equity a reality.



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