Collective interventions with cultural relevance

In much of the country, especially in urban areas, not much is known about neglected infectious diseases (NIDs), but they have been a major problem in rural and remote areas of the country. The 8 diseases of this type that have been found in Colombia, such as trachoma or geohelminthiasis, still generate great concern for the health sector because they can cause long-term health effects, affecting growth, full development and learning capacity in people who have them. Vaupés is one of the departments in the country with a high prevalence of this group of diseases.

In response to this problem, Sinergias has developed processes to improve primary health care and strengthen local capacities. This project intends to continue with those processes with the support of the Probitas Foundation, going beyond an assistance approach, and concentrating efforts on strengthening indigenous community and organizational capacities (3 AATIS in the peri-urban area of Mitú), as well as local health institutions.

In addition, we are working with 22 communities in the suburban area of Mitú in a participatory manner to create a pedagogical and communication strategy to provide context-appropriate information on what these diseases are and how best to prevent them.

In addition, we have worked on the construction of material in different formats such as video:

This year we also worked with these communities in a series of workshops for the design of community hygiene points that include hand-washing sinks and in some cases toilet bowls. At the same time, we jointly designed pedagogical messages to encourage and remind people of the importance of hand washing, as well as plans for the care and maintenance of the points built.

As part of the educational, cultural and creative strategies for the transmission of information about these diseases in the communities, we were working on a mural together with some young ninth grade students of the Pueblo Nuevo School, in Vaupés.

Pedagogical materials for the prevention of IDD were also constructed in conjunction with the students of the complementary training of the Escuela Normal Superior María Reina de Mitú - ENOSIMAR, who contributed with their pedagogical experience and knowledge of the context to generate tools for health education in the classroom. These materials were delivered to local schools and the San Antonio de Mitú Hospital to be used in their public health programs for the control and prevention of these diseases in the territory.

To learn more about the other materials and supplies that were produced as part of this project, we invite you to consult them here:

Consult materials and supplies