Women's Health Education

Last week I had the privilege of teaching women's health to seven young women living in a local aftercare shelter. Most of them are either victims of sexual abuse or commercial sexual exploitation. One of them is pregnant. The director, who is a friend of ours recently asked if I would come and share some nutrition and health information with the girls. I happily said yes.

I really enjoyed prepping for the class. I created a series of three classes on women's health, which include topics ranging from healthy lifestyle choices and nutrition to the female reproductive system to sex, pregnancy, STDs and abortion. I taught the first class last week.

I shared a little bit of my story with them during this first class and honestly, it was amazing how as soon as I started I suddenly had their rapt attention. They even seemed to sit forward in their chairs (there weren't nearly as interested when I was talking about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and the concept of cause and effect). I shared about the lifestyle I was living when I was diagnosed with cancer and how unhealthy I was - emotionally, spiritually, and physically. I was honest about my drug and alcohol use and how broken I was at that time. I shared about being a different person now and how having cancer was part of my "wake up call" which led me on a path to surrender to God's plan for my life and ultimately to healing and wholeness (not that the work is done; of course I still have a ways to go...).

I am saving all the really personal health topics for last. I want them to get to know me a bit and feel a little more comfortable with me before we discuss these things (thus me sharing a bit of my own experience). We're going to talk about the embarrassing and difficult stuff because I'm not sure they are hearing it anywhere else. It is such important information, essential to their well-being. Now motivating them to make the right choices is another thing but without information, how can they even be expected to make good choices?

On a quick side note...You'd be surprised at the level of understanding the women that we work with at the clinic have regarding how their bodies work. These are the women I see who are having more babies than they want, getting infections that they don't know about, and attempting unsafe abortions by ingesting & inserting pills sold to them on the street. (Have you heard of Cytotec? It can be very dangerous. I've heard of women dying from uterine rupture after taking it. Thankfully it appears that much of the stuff found in Cebu are just bunk pills because I have met numerous pregnant women who attempted to abort by taking a very unsafe number of these pills and/or inserting an unsafe number of these pills vaginally but nothing happened. If those pills were real, they would be life-threatening to some, but many times they aren't and so these women end up with an unwanted pregnancy being interviewed at the clinic and usually ridden with guilt and regret over what they did and now very concerned about the health of their baby.)

So after I opened up to these girls, they seemed to be really interested in me and wanted to know what kind of drugs I did, how old I was, etc... They noticed my tattoo and my nose ring and commented on it. I could see their minds turning. Here I am, perhaps in their minds, "a good, Christian girl," not only with a past but willing to share it with them - including the ugly stuff. I am still no expert on Filipino culture but something tells me that this is not common.

I'm really looking forward to spending more time with these precious young women and girls. You can tell some have had it really, really rough and now have a hard shell, which is clear by the tough act they put on. Others are shy and appear to have their childlike innocence intact, which is amazing to me. I haven't been through nearly what these girls have but I hope that by opening up to them about my life, they will find some additional hope for the future in what God will do for them if they seek him.

My hope is that they will come away with the understanding that God has a good plan for their lives and that he cares about our health - spiritual, emotional and physical. In Christ, they can look forward to wholeness, peace and joy, and abundant life. For Jesus indeed has plans to prosper them, not to harm them. Plans to give them a hope and a future.