Hello friends,
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| www.liliashealthbook.blogspot.com |
I know that many
of my friends wanted to hear all about my trip to Haiti. In this blog post, I will
attempt to describe my very first trip to the World’s First Black Republic.
I had an amazing
opportunity (with the Haitian American Caucus) to give a presentation on the importance of Health Education to
Haitian teachers along with my amazing mentor. Health education is not a focus
in the school system in Haiti. However, there is such a great need to increase
health education especially among school age children.
From what we
were told, school-age children suffer from many illnesses/diseases, some more
serious than others. However, there are few resources to deal with them and
unfortunately a lack of knowledge of how to do so.
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| www.liliashealthbook.blogspot.com. Here the teachers are participating in an activity |
We presented the
information in a form of a ‘Developing a Culturally-Appropriate First Aid kit
for Haitian teachers.’
Most first aid
kits are standard: Medication; Bandages and tape; Tools.
Due to the
difference in illnesses that school-age children live with in Haiti, as opposed to the U.S., we wanted
to develop a first aid kit that was representative of this. In other words, the
items that you can find in a standard first aid kit in the U.S. can be useful,
but may not be sufficient in Haiti.
Now, it’s easy
to do research and come up with what we think should be included in a first aid
kit, but it was very important for us to go straight to the source. It would
have been very inconsiderate and ill-conceived not to have included the
teachers in the development of a first aid kit designed for their use.
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| www.liliashealthbook.blogspot.com |
We encouraged that
they take into consideration traditional
medication (sometimes referred to as bush medicine) that often used in Haitian
culture to treat, heal, and cure illnesses. For example, there is a plethora of
herbs and plants that is easily recognized and is known to work by Haitian to
treat various illnesses. Most importantly, we encouraged them to include items
that are easily available and used often by the Haitian people to care for
those who have ill health.
The key to our
presentation was to focus on prevention of those illnesses that school age
children experience. We were mainly supported their health and wellness goals.
We encouraged
them to address any illnesses, pain or other basic needs of their students by
getting to know their students and having the knowledge and skills to care for their
students in times of ill health. Doing so will allow for better students and
teachers. Inevitably, school teachers in Haiti often have to be school nurses
as well; an added responsibility that requires them to be knowledgeable on the
treatment and prevention of various illnesses and injuries frequently
experience by their students.
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| www.liliashealthbook.blogspot.com |
For this reason,
they were very appreciative and responsive to our presentation. The
presentation was very interactive, despite the language barrier at times. This
presentation was a huge learning experience for me. It was a mutual exchange of
information that benefited both myself and my mentor, Dr. Howard, as well as the
teachers. I loved every moment of this presentation and I couldn’t have asked
for a better time in Haiti with my profession.
** There’s so
much more that I could say, but I do not want to make this post any longer**
If you have any
questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
