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February 24 – 27 marked an important Jungle Mamas landmark – it was the first Safe Birth and Healthy Families workshop given on the Pastaza side of Achuar territory. Achuar territory spans across two Ecuadorian provinces – Morona- Santiago and Pastaza. As of february, all Jungle Mamas workshops and community organizing has taken place in Morona-Santiago. Working now in both sides of the territory means that Achuar communities are expressing their growing interest in the program and are reaching out through NAE in order to have workshops carried out through their communities. Jungle Mamas coordinates directly with the NAE health leader in order to ensure effective coordination in new communities.
Workshop participants arrived from all over the Association of Numbaimi, fro the following communities with great enthusiasm and a commitment to learn new things: Numbaimi, Mashian, Kapawari, Warani, and Pukuank. Of the participants present, there were 20 women, both young and elderly, and 6 men who participated throughout the workshop.
Another great landmark of the workshop was that it was conducted in the local language of Achuar Chicham, by our three incredible Achuar and Shuar workshop facilitators and birth attendants, Mercedes, Narcisa, and Alicia. These are the same women who facilitated the two Safe Birth and Healthy Families workshops in September – and it is clear that their abilities as teachers are growing! Present at the workshop were also Jungle Mamas curriculum developers and midwives, who provided teaching support and evaluations to the facilitation team. One of the Jungle Mamas objectives is to empower Achuar women and communities by generating a space for women and men to come together and have an opportunity to discuss and work through their experiences and hopes for having healthy families.
The workshop covered the following themes: The Health of the Woman as a Community Issue, Sanitation and Hygiene, Safe Births, Human Reproduction, and Family Planning. From this workshop, participants interested and committed in learning more about safe births to become birth attendants will be identified by communities and NAE in order to go on to receive Jungle Mamas Level Two training in October.
