Local Update from Nicaragua

Dra. Barinia Osejo Herradora

Elisa’s lovely note about successes in Tanzania made me realize that I hadn’t shared all the good news from Nicaragua.  Our in-country staff from Nicaragua, Dra. Barinia Osejo Herradora, recently sent us an email that was absolutely brimming with excitement and joy.

Barinia has been making monthly monitoring visits to the clinics and communities where the 14 providers we trained in the fall are stationed.  Since November, these clinicians have screened hundreds of women with VIA and have three sites set up as cryotherapy referral centers for women who, as a result of screening with VIA or Pap, are identified as needing treatment.  Our partner co-ops and the ministry of health have agreements to refill the tanks so that cryotherapy continues to be a viable local treatment option. This has the added benefit of helping women avoid the long lines and delays that they encounter if they are referred to second level treatment centers (the hospitals, etc.).

Just this week, the clinicians held a mini-campaign at the health center in Matagalpa where we had the campaign last year.  Lots of women arrived from San Ramon (a neighboring community) and, though there were already others scheduled, the group was able to provide screening services to all the women by extending the hours and staying until everyone was seen.  Barinia writes:

Siento que el personal de salud le esta poniendo todo el corazon a este programa y hoy estoy feliz al final la semilla esta dando efecto que vamos a tener un arbol frondoso

– I feel like the clinicians are putting all of their heart into this program and I’m happy to see that the seed we planted is growing into a lush tree.