» Health Planning Epidemiology, Disease Monitoring Decision Making Assessment Public Health Disparities » Health Services Immunizations Medicaid Public Health Nursing Breastfeeding Day Care Education Communicable Diseases Immunizations Health Promotion Obesity Epidemic Stress and Chronic Disease Super-size Wise Breast Cancer Prevention Fact Sheets School Wellness Environmental Health Asthma Food Safety Household Safety Indoor Air Quality Lead Poisoning Prevention Rabies Waste and Recycling West Nile Virus » Health Protection Emergency Preparedness Communicable Disease Ordinance/Code Enforcement » From the Office Board of Health Staff Promote, Protect, Prevent Calendar of Events

Public Health Solutions
District Health Department
995 East Hwy 33, Ste 1
Crete, NE 68333-2562
888.310.0565

Webmail »

MATERNAL CHILD HEALTH PROJECT

"How Are the Children?"

Among the tribes of Africa, few have warriors more fearsome than the Masai of Kenya.  It is perhaps surprising, then, to learn the traditional greeting among Masai warriors.  One warrior would greet another with, "Kasserian Ingera," which, in Swahili, means "How are the children?"  It is still the traditional greeting among the Masai, acknowledging the high value of the Masai for the well-being of their children.  Even today, the Masai always give the traditional answer, "All the children are well," meaning of courrse, that peace and safety prevail - that the priorities of protecting the young and powerless are in place, that Masai society has not forgotten its reason for being and its responsibilities.  "All the children are well" means that life is good.  It means that the daily struggles of existence do not preclude proper care for the young.

With this philosphy in mind, we are embarking on an exciting new project that will bring to light the issues facing pregnant women and children in our towns and villages.  What must we do, as a community, to provide the best possible environment for our youngest and most vulnerable citizens?  What has to happen in order to create an environment that is healthy, safe, and provides all our children with every opportunity to grow and develop as they should?  These are complex questions with no easy answers.

Using the National Issues Forum method, we will:

1.  Evaluate current data on trends in community health & safety and county specific survey results.

2. Identify possible barriers to maternal child health & safety in our towns and villages

3.  Produce three viable options for improving health & safety in our communities

4.  Recognize and define the possible consequences or "tradeoffs" of each option

5.  Conduct community forums to give citizens a chance to deliberate on the issue

6.  Act as a resource for community groups in achieving a healthier/safer environment

The time commitment for participating in this project would be 1.5 days of initial training (Sept 9 - 10), an additional 1 day of meeting to conduct the "Naming & Framing" of the issue, then the time it would take to assist in the community forums in your community.  These forums will occur in the spring of 2011 and we will be flexible in scheduling around the moderator's availability.