Where Women Have No Doctor

Health care services are difficult to access in many parts of the developing world. Whether it is the inability to pay for services or the distance to facilities, women often find themselves playing the role of doctor. This puts them in the position to greatly help their family members, but only if they know how to correctly treat the issue at hand. Because we work in parts of the world where this is very much a reality, we host a series of health trainings that equips participants with the knowledge they need to care for their sick family members. The trainings, developed by Hesperian Health Guides, are aptly titled Where Women Have No Doctor. We spent the last month working through parts of the training series with our team in Peru. To host the trainings we brought in Dr. Maribel Jimenez, a doctor and Tropical Disease Specialist at Hospital Cayetano Heredia in Lima. Dr. Jimenez taught the women how to deliver first aid, properly use medications and care for their bodies. The wealth of experience she earned at the hospital positioned her to provide the women with very practical and useful lessons on keeping their families healthy. Although women who work at KKi are sick less often and are more likely to access routine and emergency healthcare (5x), the reality is that health emergencies still happen. We pair a job with education and mentorship for exactly this reason. Resources are valuable. Knowledge is power. But the combination puts people in the position to not only survive, but to thrive. This is what empowerment truly looks like.