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Exchange experience between Guatemala and Macedonia

- Blog | REYN Admin

During month November and early December 12 represents from NGO sector from Macedonia visit’s Guatemala.Main topic of our visit’s was to see how Community in rural places doing advocacy for there Health rights.We was in four different places where we present our Methodology of   work ,,Community monitoring”.Community Monitoring is methodology of work where we first strength community about health rights( in my case right of immunization) with help of Community leader’s and Health professionals   .Second faze is survey with community and Health professional’s about implementation of there rights of immunizations and main barriers for implementation of program,,Active health protection of mother and children” ,what is governmental program. Like result from survey we prepaid score cart with results and  recommendation’s  how to improve process of immunization of Roma children who didn’t go to kindergarten or dropout from school. Third faze is advocacy for changes on the local and national level.In our case results is more than 80% from Roma children is immunizated,and on the beginning was only 60 %.

Community leaders from Guatemala present’s us similar methodology. Community is organized in the consul and they discus  about health issues. After this they do Advocacy on the national level to solved there problems.And finally they have regular improving of there Health status.For example in one village only two woman’s die and 24 children in the time when mother born the child .Before two years numbers was double bigger.Because lot of children die from Diarrhea ,,dirty hands” they provide education how to protect self  and about there Health  rights. Unfortunately Immunization in Guatemala is not obligated just recommended and this reason for lot of desists.Education is not obligated too, so they didn’t have kindergartens in places out side from capital city .When I ask why there not interested to send children in the school ,people says there scared about life of there children. Finally when we traveling first day we see lot of Road blockade where community looking a bigger founds for Rural places from the government. People from Guatemala are in the process of learning about there rights,rights of there children too,and from day to day they do big progress. For me the biggest impression is there wish to keep there identity but and about there will to provide better live to there children with education and better health.