Testimonies

The words of the following health coordinators and health promoters speak loudly about the success of CCPHC in different regions.

Juanita (Bolivia):
"CCPHC means empowering women so that they can become responsible for their own health and development, realizing their own potential."

Eluzinete Garcia (Brazil):
"My time in Jamkhed helped me to discover my own potential and motivated me to work with poor communities. The church has a responsibility not just to run clinics but to raise people's consciousness about their health and their rights."

Sara, Blanca, and Elli Flores (Bolivia):
"Before CCPHC training, we were not very clear about what we were doing. Now our commitment has been challenged and deepened. We have found alternative ways to work in communities. We have learned to be creative and to start from basic things in our work with people."

Beth Ferrell (Mozambique) reports:
"In 1994, the Community Development and Preventive Health Course Project was initiated for pastors' wives and churchwomen from all over Mozambique. It was to address the needs of underserved areas and to promote preventive rather than curative care as a more fiscally responsible approach in places such as Mozambique where there are limited resources. For example, in 1995 and 1996, Mozambique was listed as the poorest country in the world by the World Bank and the United Nations. In 1997, Mozambique 'graduated' to become the world's next-to-poorest country.

"This ongoing community health program to empower women in Mozambique has been well received and continues to be necessary if women are to attain the abundant life Jesus talks about in John 10:10.

"The course is a very basic one. It focuses on sanitation, hygiene, clean drinking water, adequate nutrition, family planning, maternal and child health care, and disease prevention, recognition, and treatment. It is a vehicle to achieve positive results in all these areas through community development and use of existing resources. Continued cooperative efforts among course participants in the same locale and faithful prayer support for all members of the group are encouraged.

"The participants return to their homes, communities, and church groups to share what they have learned. This enriches the lives of others at the basic level of need. Ideas regarding how to generate income are also discussed. These ideas depend to a great extent on land, roads, rainfall, material available for crafts, and tourists."