By Jessica Northridge | Program Coordinator
In the last update from our Intercultural Health team, we discussed our work in Asentamiento Humano (AA HH) Geminis, an urban settlement on the outskirts of Pucallpa. Since then, the team has begun work in yet another new site: Santa Clara.
Santa Clara is a Comunidad Nativa (CC NN), or native community, within an hour’s distance from the city of Yarinacocha in the department of Ucayali, Perú. Alianza Arkana has been working with Shipibo-Konibo community members there as part of youth empowerment, permaculture, and agroforestry efforts since 2014. Recently, the Intercultural Health team joined a trip to Santa Clara for a permaculture update and presented our work to community attendees. Following the presentation, several women approached our team requesting to be part of our programming, and we enthusiastically accepted.
Santa Clara will now be the third location in which our Intercultural Health work is implemented (in addition to AA HH Bena Jema and AA HH Geminis). We are eager to begin in this setting as it is nearby and presents the opportunity to build close relationships with community members (Santa Clara consists of an estimated 48 households, of which approximately 25 are continuously occupied). Most importantly, we feel confident in our ability to conduct community-driven, participatory work, given that the community itself has identified health as a major priority.
Currently, we are gearing up for a deworming campaign in Santa Clara, in which participants will be tested and treated for gastrointestinal parasites. This work will be made possible by staff from Clínica Pucallpa, who have offered their microscopy services as well as medication free of charge.
Following this campaign, the Intercultural Health team will conduct home visits and host community assemblies to become better acquainted with people living there and their health concerns. In addition, our team will visit the local health post to meet with the health professionals that serve the Santa Clara community. Using the resulting information and community input, we will design health workshops and further medical campaigns to suit the evolving needs of Santa Clara.
Further updates
We are also happy to report that we completed our second cervical cancer screening campaign in AA HH Bena Jema in June. This campaign was carried out in collaboration with the local health post, Centro Ámerica. Thanks to the help of their obstetrician, we were able to offer screening services to 28 women, using either visual inspection with acetic acid or Papanicolau (PAP) smear methods (note: chosen method was determined by age according to Peru’s national guidelines for Seguro Integral de Salud, the publicly provided insurance system).
Following this work, we hope to offer yet another screening campaign for women in Bena Jema as well as assistance to women in navigating the healthcare system for follow-up and routine gynecological services.
We look forward to hearing from our supporters! Please follow Alianza Arkana on Facebook and Instagram or email salud@alianzaarkana.org for more information on our Intercultural Health work. As always, thank you for your support. Ichabires irake!
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