New Border Program Extends Esperança’s Reach Water?

Nogales Home to New Public Health Partnership

As mentioned in our January newsletter – which hopefully has reached your mailbox by now – Esperança is expanding our public health programming to the Arizona-Mexico border town of Nogales. In Nogales, we are partnered with a local organization of promotoras – or health promoter. These women are organizing their community to spread positive health messages about nutrition, exercise and preventing Type 2 diabetes, among other concerns. We have worked in Nogales in the past and are happy to return; selfishly, the location makes it far easier to travel to than our Mozambique project, for example. Also, its geographic proximity makes it another great location to show donors, board members and volunteers our work in action.

Promotoras are effective because they are living within the community where they work. They talk to their family, friends, church and social circles about making positive health choices to improve outcomes. They speak in Spanish, use local slang and know the community well. We use the promotora model in five countries to reach out to poor neighborhoods and provide those interested with an opportunity to greatly improve their health. We are thrilled to have a new community with which to work. Thank you helping make this 2008 Esperança resolution a reality!

Warm regards,
Kelli Donley, MPH
Program Director