Ancient Perspectives Teach Modern Day Health

When it comes to reproductive health, the right approach for an independent working woman in the city is not going to work for an indigenous mother of five in a tightly knit rural village. Diana Damien knows.  She has been developing strategies for teaching reproductive rights and improving reproductive health in Chiapas, Mexico, where for years, women’s health initiatives have failed. 

First, Damien realizes the importance of reaching out to communities of women in their native language, since many do not speak Spanish. Second, she encourages these women to take their health and needs seriously not by spouting modern feminist principles but by reminding them of their own indigenous heritage.

The core of Damien’s strategy is to revisit and revive ancient indigenous ideas about the equal value of men and women.  She uses these ideas to form the foundation for a “new” respect for women and women’s rights in the community.  In her workshops, participants reach back to an era before the influence of Catholicism, to recall forgotten indigenous customs honoring women and their role as givers of life.   Her specially trained health care providers work from these principles when delivering care and health education throughout nine successful clinics in Southern Mexico.