Somehow I always struggle to choose one/ two experiences
from the week to speak about. The answer to that struggle is definitely the
fact that from the experiences we have had in our time at Worcester every
single one of them has impacted me as a person and as a professional in some
way. Usually a positive impact, and even if it is negative there is always
something to take from the experience and grow from. With that being said I
need to now decide what to speak about.
This past week has been World Breastfeeding Week, and with
that comes a lot of Health Promotion. Breastfeeding and related Health
Promotion. During the 5 days of our week we promoted breastfeeding on 3 days,
and the other two days were simply because the activities for those days didn't
allow us to(Avian park, usually older people with DM, and cooking for the
children on Friday). But if we could have, it probably would have been 5/5 days
of Breastfeeding and related promotions.
Being able to educate the care givers is very special, to
teach them why it is so important, how to breastfeed and what to do next. We
are empowering them to make the right choice for their children, themselves and
their families(saves money, creates a bond, all the health benefits etc). We
also promoted to the rest of the clinics.
This was incredible as we were planting the seed ,and hopefully allowing a few
seeds to sprout, in the minds of those people that support the breastfeeding
moms, the people that offer other advise to what we suggest and to the people
that judge breastfeeding. We were helping them to understand the importance of
it and to give them the same knowledge we share with the moms. By doing this we
are giving the breastfeeding moms the best opportunity at being able to
breastfeed exclusively for 6 months. Breastfeeding really can make a massive
difference in our country in terms of child health. That's why weeks like these
are so important ,but I think that promotion of breastfeeding should occur more
regularly (every 2 weeks go all out, and hopefully new people are coming into
the clinic in those times and that those that are there are able to spread the
message. Doing this one would have to be very creative/interesting in
presenting as to not bore those that have listened before)because it is that
important and can play that big a role in the well being of our children.
Excluding doing health promotion at the clinics we also did
a radio talk for "healthy eating during pregnancy", it was very nerve
wracking but also I felt a sense of pride at what we as a group had just
accomplished. It is definitely a way to get correct messages across to the
population, as lots of people are listening. It would be fantastic if on the
bigger radio stations (like 5FM)Dieticians/ people of the health profession
could speak as they could reach even more of our population. The fact that we were able to target the
people that probably don't have as much access to the internet as 5FM listeners
means that we could possibly have provided them with information they would
never have had before. We were able to empower people, yet again.
Other then the Health promotion we were able to do
throughout the week, we were also able to feed some children. We were able to
give them a balanced meal and a healthy snack. Balanced meal meaning that they
got starch, protein and vegetables through an economic recipe, so it's not just
once off that they get this yummy food. I think this task is excellent as it
allows us to test a recipe but also to provide food to the children. To know
that the children(ages ranging from small to high school) enjoyed the meal I
prepared for them and that they wanted seconds makes me happy. I love being
able to make people happy with food normally, but this gave me a warm fuzzy
feeling. I am looking forward to being able to do more activities like this in
the future.
This week, in summary, has been about empowering the people
with knowledge they can use for themselves, knowledge they can give to others
and knowledge that will allow them to support those around them in the choices
they have made(when they are the correct choices). What an accomplishment. I
hope that from our knowledge we shared many people may benefit. That many seeds
have been planted in peoples minds that will allow them to blossom into healthy
people.
