A Well-Informed Community is a Healthy and Safe Community

The 2019 My Health, My Family, Our Safety Project has been traveling through remote locations in Western China. A local doctor and a team of health professionals, coordinated by our partner Shamtse, will be visiting 10 different communities as part of this project. The team attended to the health needs of 258 community members (mostly women) on their first stop and taught them how to improve their own health and encouraged to share the information they learned with their families. This project also provided medical check-ups for the women and children who needed it, most of whom have never received any kind of medical attention before. Personal hygiene products we  included as giveaways and medicines were distributed as needed.

One of the women the team met during their visit was Zhongjia, a widow and single mom. She has never been to school and grew up helping her parents graze their land and take care of housework.

Unfortunately, her husband died from an accident, which left her to take care of her daughter alone. They had no one else to depend on and she had to work grazing and digging lands to make a living. When her daughter went to junior high school, she fell ill and had two major operations on her legs causing her to be bedridden for two months. Her daughter had to drop out of school so she can be taken care of at home. She also had to depend on medicine all year round since then.

When asked about the Healthy Village Program, she smiled and shared, “When the coordinator announced it, I had doubts at first and didn’t think it can bring me much benefit. I am fortunate to have participated in this program and have a new understanding of my body. The training increased my awareness about self-care and maternal and child health. They taught us how to live a healthy life, how to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, and how to improve interpersonal relationships.”

“The training also included breaking superstitions, abandoning bad health habits and developing good ones, and advocating for a civilized, healthy, and scientific lifestyle. These program has been very valuable and the information shared is very helpful for me. When I get home, I will spread these messages to my neighbors and sisters who did not have the opportunity to come to the site.”

Zhongjia’s home is quite far from the city and receiving this kind of health service close to her home is very rare. She went home with gratitude and sent us her most sincere thanks!

Our special thanks to Bennie M and ASBV Charity for funding the My Health, My Family, Our Safety project in this village. Because of you, 258 villagers know how to protect themselves from diseases and provide a safer environment for their children.

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