Kayla and Shira Kapito, attendees at the International Conference on Women's Health Issues, continue to detail their experience through blogs. I thank them greatly for sharing their thoughts and reflections.
July 9th: This morning the ICOWHI conference began with several sessions on the policy and legislation of the girl child. The first session we attended was a presentation on the Illegal Organ Market, which was extremely informative due to the fact that we were unaware of this system. A huge problem internationally, the illegal organ market highlights issues of poverty and woman's health since most of the donors are women who are forced into selling organs, such as kidneys. After participating in this fascinating discussion, we were left wondering whether legalizing this market would actually change anything.
The next presenter spoke about children trafficking globally, specifically in Swaziland. The most surprising part of this session was learning that trafficking is not seen as a criminal act. Even more shocking is that some children willingly run away or sell themselves because of poverty and hunger. The issue of trafficking is a large issue in Swaziland that will take great measures to solve.
After the session on trafficking, we attended a presentation about the global issue of obesity. Although obesity is clearly an issue in the United States, we were unaware that it is also a rising problem in Botswana and South Africa. The key to solving this global concern of obesity is education. It is only through education that people around the world can learn about the long term effects of obesity such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and even death.
Overall, today was a very exciting first day of the ICOWHI conference. The presenters were engaging and the discussions were captivating. We look forward to learning more tomorrow!
July 10th: Day two of the ICOWHI conference started with a presentation about mental health and the development of the girl child. The presenter spoke about the importance of not only looking at the physical health, but also looking at the mental health of the child. We learned that when determining the mental health of African children, it is the quality of home life that matters and not the socio-economic status. The presenter continued to talk about interesting issues in Africa such as malnutrition and pregnancy. She ended with stating that we need better nurse specialists in practice and policy in order to solve these predicaments.
Afterwards, we had the opportunity to watch the documentary, Wardance¸which is about the Acholi tribe in Northern Uganda. This documentary portrayed the struggles of three children living in the war zone during the time of the Civil War. This film was not only heart-wrenching but also did not leave a dry eye in the audience. We highly recommend taking the time to see this moving documentary.
Following the documentary, we had the chance to listen to a phenomenal speaker on the issues of genital mutilation. The presenter shared with us a research study that she conducted in Ohio where the second largest Somali immigrant population resides. These Somali immigrants shared with the researcher their history and feelings toward their customs of genital circumcision which was interesting and educational.
Ultimately, the second day concluded with the conference participants enjoying either a safari adventure or a demonstration by the Oodi weavers.
July 11th: Unfortunately, today was the last day of the ICOWHI conference in Gaborone, Botswana. It began with a lecture on children and HIV/AIDS in resource limited settings, such as Botswana. Speaking about the issues in Botswana following the rise of HIV/AIDS, the presenter gladly declared our ongoing success in improving access to care, strengthening routine and couple testing, and educating society. We left this presentation with the notion that even in a resource limited country, like Botswana, lives can be saved.
The next presentation that we attended dealt with parent-child communication on adolescent sexual risk behaviors. This research study conducted on female adolescents in Botswana looked at the sexual communication between parents and their children. Because it is culturally inappropriate to talk to parents about sex, adolescents receive misinformation from friends regarding these topics.
Following the lecture on sexual communication, we went to another discussion on reducing HIV risk associated with sexual behavior of adolescents. It was brought to our attention that HIV/STD is a national concern among teens and can only be solved through listening to the adolescents’ voices. The take-home message of this presentation was that knowledge does not change behavior. The way in which we must change behavior is through time, trust, and team-building.
The conference concluded with Dean Meleis presenting the Phyllis Stern award to Her Worship Judge Unity Dow. This award recognizes leadership in women’s health. Her Worship Judge Unity Dow accepted this award by telling a moving story to illustrate the idea that there is more to health than medicine.
The 2008 ICOWHI conference in Gaborone, Botswana, was a great success. The next conference will be held at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 2010. We hope to see you there!
-Kayla and Shira Kapito
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