Health Education
AIL has a multi faceted health education program that uses multi day workshops, mini workshops and integrates health messages into other activities such as patient care or education classes. See below for:
Health Workshops
Expectant Mother Workshops
For information on patient care.
Health Workshops
In depth health workshops are offered on hygiene, disease prevention and nutrition as well as reproductive health and first aid. Most participants have never attended any kind of workshop on health and are often poorly educated. The stories they relate often tell of “old wives tales” for curing infection or treating wounds which prove not only ineffective but often make matters worse. The impact of even basic health education is best told through stories from past Health Workshop participants:
Malali says: “I am a teacher in a high school and I didn’t have information about these issues that I learned now. AIL takes another step to teach us about reproductive health, especially for my village, as I know the women of Afghanistan need to learn about their health issues. The teacher mentioned that I didn’t know about pregnancy. I have one child and I didn’t know how I could feed her which is very important to learn about. Fortunately, I learned all the issues here. This workshop is a good opportunity for us. The teacher says I asked many questions regarding the reproductive health issues. I really didn’t know before and all my questions were answered during this workshop”.
Another participant says: “AIL is like a key. Every time I come to the workshop I try to learn about the health of women and health of society. Every day it opens the locked problems of the people in the society. Before I came to this workshop I didn’t have any information about the health issues and I didn’t know how to prevent pregnancy. Right now I know how to prevent it. I should say that I have six children and all my children are small. Actually, this is from my lack of knowledge and lack of education. Now, I understand many informative issues. If God is willing I will implement this knowledge to others”.
"AIL is like a key , unlocking society's problems" Workshop participant comment
In depth health workshops are offered on hygiene, disease prevention and nutrition as well as reproductive health and first aid. Most participants have never attended any kind of workshop on health and are often poorly educated. The stories they relate often tell of “old wives tales” for curing infection or treating wounds which prove not only ineffective but often make matters worse. The impact of even basic health education is best told through stories from past Health Workshop participants:
Malali says: “I am a teacher in a high school and I didn’t have information about these issues that I learned now. AIL takes another step to teach us about reproductive health, especially for my village, as I know the women of Afghanistan need to learn about their health issues. The teacher mentioned that I didn’t know about pregnancy. I have one child and I didn’t know how I could feed her which is very important to learn about. Fortunately, I learned all the issues here. This workshop is a good opportunity for us. The teacher says I asked many questions regarding the reproductive health issues. I really didn’t know before and all my questions were answered during this workshop”.
Another participant says: “AIL is like a key. Every time I come to the workshop I try to learn about the health of women and health of society. Every day it opens the locked problems of the people in the society. Before I came to this workshop I didn’t have any information about the health issues and I didn’t know how to prevent pregnancy. Right now I know how to prevent it. I should say that I have six children and all my children are small. Actually, this is from my lack of knowledge and lack of education. Now, I understand many informative issues. If God is willing I will implement this knowledge to others”.
"AIL is like a key , unlocking society's problems" Workshop participant comment
Expectant Mother Workshops
Pregnant women are referred to a workshop by a clinic or a Community Health Worker. The workshop takes less than 3 hours on one day and provides expectant mothers and their birth attendants with detailed health education relating to pregnancy, normal and complicated delivery, breastfeeding and high risk factors and signs of problems for mother or baby. The training is aimed at mothers who have limited access to deliver at clinics or hospitals.
The goal is to reduce maternal and infant injuries and deaths during childbirth and the immediate aftermath through access to information on proper care and encouragement to go to a clinic or hospital for delivery if possible. Following the workshop, a basic delivery kit is given to each pregnant woman and a scarf to each caregiver.
The vast majority of pregnant attendees have had their babies at the clinic or hospital. This is remarkable in a society where home birth is the norm and where today’s mothers were most likely born at home and have mothers themselves or mothers in law who believe home birth the accepted practice as they themselves experienced it. These women have little or no access to women who have had births at clinics or hospitals so they are stepping out of the known in choosing a clinic birth.
Pregnant women are referred to a workshop by a clinic or a Community Health Worker. The workshop takes less than 3 hours on one day and provides expectant mothers and their birth attendants with detailed health education relating to pregnancy, normal and complicated delivery, breastfeeding and high risk factors and signs of problems for mother or baby. The training is aimed at mothers who have limited access to deliver at clinics or hospitals.
The goal is to reduce maternal and infant injuries and deaths during childbirth and the immediate aftermath through access to information on proper care and encouragement to go to a clinic or hospital for delivery if possible. Following the workshop, a basic delivery kit is given to each pregnant woman and a scarf to each caregiver.
The vast majority of pregnant attendees have had their babies at the clinic or hospital. This is remarkable in a society where home birth is the norm and where today’s mothers were most likely born at home and have mothers themselves or mothers in law who believe home birth the accepted practice as they themselves experienced it. These women have little or no access to women who have had births at clinics or hospitals so they are stepping out of the known in choosing a clinic birth.
