The fabulous Anne Acampado interviewed me and I am so happy with this article that she wrote. Text below. Thanks Anne and Women's Health!
Women’s Health Magazine interviewed Ami Evangelista Swanepoel regarding her reproductive health NGO, Roots of Health.
“I’ll never forget meeting women who said they only wanted two or three children, but had gone through seven or eight pregnancies,” says Amina Evangelista Swanepoel, founder of reproductive health rights advocacy Roots of Health in Palawan.
“When I asked why they had more children than they wanted, women said they didn’t know how to prevent pregnancy, or that their partners forced them to have more kids, or that they wanted to use contraception but could not afford it,” she adds.
ADDRESSING A NEED
This is just one of the everyday realities that Swanepoel faces. Swanepoel, a Filipino-American who grew up in Manila and moved to the U.S. to study at 19, returned after her mother suggested starting a non-profit organization for women and children in Palawan. The organization works with poor communities in Puerto Princesa to educate and empower women and girls about their reproductive health rights and what they can do to protect their children. “It became very clear that levels of reproductive health knowledge are very low. Some of the women in our community report that people drink laundry detergent, or hand soap to cure sexually transmitted infections,” she says. “May mga babae din kasi na talagang hindi nila alam paano nabubuntis ang babae. Or hindi nila alam na may paraan para maplano kung ilan ang anak nila at kung ano ang dapat gawin para healthy ang pagbubuntis nila,” she adds.
This is just one of the everyday realities that Swanepoel faces. Swanepoel, a Filipino-American who grew up in Manila and moved to the U.S. to study at 19, returned after her mother suggested starting a non-profit organization for women and children in Palawan. The organization works with poor communities in Puerto Princesa to educate and empower women and girls about their reproductive health rights and what they can do to protect their children. “It became very clear that levels of reproductive health knowledge are very low. Some of the women in our community report that people drink laundry detergent, or hand soap to cure sexually transmitted infections,” she says. “May mga babae din kasi na talagang hindi nila alam paano nabubuntis ang babae. Or hindi nila alam na may paraan para maplano kung ilan ang anak nila at kung ano ang dapat gawin para healthy ang pagbubuntis nila,” she adds.
A POSITIVE IMPACT
Fast forward three years later and she, along with 12 fulltime staff of nurses, midwives, and health care LS Conversations With edit 4.indd 79 providers—have become a vital part of the communities they’re involved in.
Fast forward three years later and she, along with 12 fulltime staff of nurses, midwives, and health care LS Conversations With edit 4.indd 79 providers—have become a vital part of the communities they’re involved in.
Their help extends to prenatal and post-natal care. She shares an experience of one of their nurses, Daisy Elorquez. “When she arrived to deliver a baby in one of our communities, she found a manghihilot (traditional healer) pushing on the pregnant woman’s stomach to try to force baby out. She stopped her and performed an internal exam and discovered that the placenta was obstructing the cervix. This was preventing the baby from being able to exit the uterus. It’s a situation which can result in the baby’s or mother’s death—sometimes both. She convinced the woman and husband that the situation was serious and rushed the woman to a local hospital where she gave birth to a healthy baby boy,” says Swanepoel.
The work is hard and never ending, but Swanepoel knows Roots of Health is on the right track. “It’s heartbreaking to see how these women struggle to care for their huge families and to see that many of their children are hungry and sickly. Their struggles reinforce for me the importance of what we’re doing—giving women education, and access to health services, to give them a chance to have the healthy families they deserve,” she says.
Roots of Health hopes to expand the education programs they provide and work with more colleges and schools in Palawan. A program for the men in the community is also in the pipeline. “Kasi madalas kapag hindi pumapayag at sinusuportahan ng mga asawang lalaki yung efforts na magplano ng pamilya, hindi maituloy yung nasimulan. Kailangan full support at commitment ng nanay at tatay,” says Swanepoel.
HOPE IN THE RH BILL
She has no doubt that passing the Reproductive Health bill into law will benefit the women of the communities they serve. (See “Your Rights, Right Now,” page 48) “In one of our sites, there is one government midwife that serves over 10,000 families. But she can only see the pregnant clients for two afternoons a month. The city provides free contraceptives, but the yearly supply runs out by March.
She has no doubt that passing the Reproductive Health bill into law will benefit the women of the communities they serve. (See “Your Rights, Right Now,” page 48) “In one of our sites, there is one government midwife that serves over 10,000 families. But she can only see the pregnant clients for two afternoons a month. The city provides free contraceptives, but the yearly supply runs out by March.
Right now, Roots of Health is providing services that the government should be guaranteeing all of its citizens. Because the funding for health services, including free contraceptives for those who want to use them, will be enshrined and protected by a reproductive health rights law, women and girls will not have to worry.” The roots of health have been laid, and Swanepoel is making sure the roots flourish into better health for women and a secure future for Filipinas.
— Anne Acampado
