Media
An interview with Scott Cohen, Founder of Global Pediatric Alliance (GPA) and winner of the 2009 Pediatric Hero award by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
In 2015, Global Pediatric Alliance brought plays in the Tseltal and Tsotsil languages to remote communities in the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico to talk about violence against women and girls, and how this could be reduced.
Many of the midwives Global Pediatric Alliance works with speak languages other than Spanish, such as the Maya languages of Tzeltal and Tzotzil. In order to provide effective tools for teaching new skills and identifying emergency situations rapidly, GPA has created a library of culturally-appropriate, dynamic materials, such as a series of short videos in these languages that reenact various pregnancy and delivery-related emergencies. These videos are teaching midwives specific danger signs and the appropriate actions to take.
Community health promoters provide life-saving care to rural communities in Guatemala, through GPA's Small Grants Program. (www.globalpediatricalliance.org)
GPA believes young people are powerful agents for improving the health and well-being of their communities. In 2016, we worked with approximately 400 students at four schools in the Highland region of Chiapas, Mexico. In this area, made up of Tzeltal and Tzotzil-speaking indigenous communities, the maternal mortality rate reaches up to four times the national average due to factors such as poverty, discrimination, inadequate healthcare access, gender inequality, violence and early marriage. Through an interactive, dynamic curriculum, students reflected on gender roles, life goals, sexual and reproductive health, and how to have healthy relationships free of violence.
The Simone de Beauvoir Leadership Institute in Mexico CIty highlights the efforts of the Alianza Crecer Juntos, in which GPA participates, to support traditional midwives in Sitalá, Chiapas develop local community plans for obstetric emergencies as a best practice. Watch as some of the midwives who GPA trains tell their stories and the difficulties they face.