By Amelia Brandt, volunteer
In late 2013, we heard from Mamas that they were especially interested in learning more about their health —an important part of our definition of prosperity. With this feedback in mind, we recruited Adrienne McConnell, a New Mexico native studying for a master’s in community health education, to intern at our Cape Coast location.
Adrienne’s Mama-centered approach began with meeting the women and understanding their health challenges. Mamas shared that they were most interested in learning about nutrition, breast cancer, menopause, and communicable diseases, particularly Hepatitis B and HIV.
Adrienne collaborated closely with Cape Coast office manager Patience and Mama liaison Anna Rose to tackle nutrition first, via a workshop addressing local foods that would resonate with Mamas. Patience and Adrienne also forged a partnership with a nutritionist from the University of Cape Coast, Rebecca, to give the presentation in Fante, the local language used in Cape Coast.
In mid-April, Rebecca presented on nutrition to Cape Coast’s 40 Mamas and quality control staff members and, with Adrienne’s help, answered many questions from the audience. The Mamas greatly appreciated the lesson; as quality control employee Esther shared, “I was really happy to see the presentation and I learned a lot of new things.” As a part of the workshop, Rebecca and Adrienne distributed handouts about nutrition for women to take home and share with their families and friends. While in Cape Coast, Adrienne also shared her nutrition lesson with two friends of Global Mamas: Judith, a souvenir shop owner and former Global Mamas producer, and Eli, an owner of a small restaurant near the Cape Coast volunteer house.
In late April, Mamas at our Ashaiman location also heard Adrienne’s nutrition presentation. With inventory control manager Dorcas providing translation support to the local language of Twi, Adrienne and the Mamas created a food pyramid based on typical Ghanaian foods for a practical lesson in healthy eating.
Besides nutrition, Adrienne also taught classes about breast cancer and menopause to Mamas in Ashaiman, Krobo, and Cape Coast. With this new program in place, Global Mamas plans to continue health workshops and build relationships with local experts and NGOs to address Mamas’ priority health concerns.