Sitting in a makeshift tent in the high pastures of the Hazara people, Future Generations researchers heard women tell of tribulation and health challenges. They also heard stories of incredible capacity. These meetings, in which untrained women showcased their ability to treat and care for all manner of health concerns, formed the genesis of women’s only workshops to provide basic health skills run by the researchers.
These workshops built of the women’s pregnancy histories, using their lived experiences as context for education that empowered them with solutions to save lives. The stories transformed local experience into science. Women across communities became trained Community Health Workers, learning about anatomy, reproduction, and actions they could take with their resources to grow health; for example, nutrition for expecting mothers and the importance of baby’s suckling after birth to control bleeding. They became health care providers for their families in trauma care, infections, treating diarrhea and even domestic violence, and set up Family Health Action Groups (FHAGs) in their communities to formalize their health networks
Two years later, long after the workshops had ended, word from a Mullah in one of the villages reached the researchers: the Community Health Workers and their FHAGs were still functioning. With no outside support, no funding or further training, they were providing health services in some of the country’s most remote areas.