Community Health Workers

Community health workers are also called health promoters, and in Spanish, agentes comunitarios de salud. They have been an interest of mine since my Peace Corps service from 1974 to 1977 in Ecuador, South America. During my first year, I lived in a small village in southern Ecuador. It was called Jima. The central village had about 300 families. There were 12 surrounding hamlets with about 30 families each. Before I arrived, a small group of Peace Corps volunteer nurses had already trained 12 young women as health promoters. Each young woman came from a different hamlet. After completing my in-country training as a new Peace Corps volunteer, I learned Spanish and local culture. Then, I asked to be assigned to Jima with a fellow trainee who was a nutritionist. Our goal was to continue work with that group of 12 health promoters. We aimed to supervise and support them in their respective hamlet. We also helped each of them set up a mothers’ club and well-baby clinic in their village. It was fascinating. I hope I helped them learn. I wanted to improve their health. However, I really think that experience taught me more than I taught them.