health/ethics
Honduras
Honduras and Health Education Experiencing the Ethics of Service Work Firsthand by Leah Mische
“... Health education is the best way to empower people to take responsiblity for their own health, thereby affording them a right that we all should have: agency over one’s own body.”
W
hen we first landed in Honduras, I could feel the excitement building up in my expression of wide wonder and naïveté. Yet, had not come for tourism. We came with a purpose: to provide health education to those who do not have access to it. During the five weeks I stayed in Honduras, I helped teach women and children about the basics of their own health. With the women, we covered topics ranging from family planning to HIV/AIDS to cervical cancer, while with the children, we focused on how to prepare and build healthy living habits. While our work made a significant contribution toward giving women and children agency over their health, it also considered the ethics of providing foreign aid. Were we right to assume that providing education was more important than respecting the autonomy and independence of the community? While I grappled with this question, I eventually came to many selfdiscoveries about purpose, responsibility, and cultural perspective. top photo by Luis Samra
in need in a long term and sustainable manner is to provide health education and the framework for good health.
My involvement in Project HEAL has always rested on the idea that health education had something more to offer than simple monetary or resource-based donations. First and foremost, it is a more sustainable system; education can easily be passed down from generation to generation and from community leader to community member without developing a dependency on foreign aid. Perhaps more importantly, health education is the best way empower people to take responsibility for their own health, thereby affording them a right that we all should have: agency over one’s own body. Thus, I believe the best way to improve the lives of those
all other photos by author unless otherwise cited
However, at the same time, many ethical boundaries brought us to interesting questions and evaluations of our work. There were two types of barriers that especially hindered our ability to have an impact on the women in our rural community. Perhaps the most important was the economic barrier. Since we did not bring material resources, we were not able to offer free medication that could prevent unnecessary deaths. While we
"Were we right to assume that providing education was more important than respecting the autonomy and independence of the community?"
honduras & health
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