Carrie Rheingans
A story on the local public radio station recently piqued my interest, because it was about a local community organization that I have worked with in the past. Migrant Health Promotion is a non-governmental organization that works to improve health in farmworker and border communities. I’ve worked with MHP to do some education around HIV, training of the teen health promoters, and HIV testing. Their teen peer health promoter program is really great at educating the teens themselves, and also at educating community members.
This radio story was done by the Michigan Radio Arts Reporter, who wrote about the teens being able to use theatrical techniques and be creative in their work. As a health educator, I love this style of peer education. As mentioned in the article, with communities that may have a low literacy level, it’s easier to do non-written education. Additionally, some members of the communities speak only English or Spanish, so having the shows in both languages is good approach. This style of health education also allows taboo topics to be discussed, which I appreciate as an HIV educator.
