"A woman’s health is her last priority". This is what the social workers observed
while working with women in the community. They rush to the aid of an ailing
parent, child or spouse but always put their health last.
With this objective
in mind and on the occasion of Saheli Din the Roshani Grah CCO along with CSA Staff thought
of conducting health workshops for women of the communities of Poinsur. Generally a program of
song, dance and Haldi Kumkum is held, however, this time around the CCO wanted
to do things differently.
The resource person selected for the program,
Dr.Evelet Sequeira is a Public
Health developmental professional with an MD in Preventive & Social
Medicine. Her career spans over 15 years in this sector and has worked with UN
agencies (UNICEF), government departments, academic institutions and NGOs. She
has been in the field of Self Development since the last 6 years and has been
counseling people on Self Improvement, relationships, etc.
Dr. Evelet says that "if you want to cure a person of a disease, you need to take out the “dis” in
‘disease’ and you will get “ease”. Through
her workshop on 21st
Jan.2016 with 75 women of Poinsur community she helped them
understand how simple lifestyle changes could bring about a change in their
health and well being.
She started with the food one must eat from
morning to night and then proceeded to the topic of mental well being, the
increasing risk of breast cancer and addressed several other queries of the
women. Dr. Evelet being a joyous & bubbly soul kept the women entertained
throughout with her simple tips, suggestions and positive thinking.
After this
she proceeded to different meditative techniques, breathing exercises, and very
interesting healing and loving exercises. Some were individual exercises and
some were group exercises where the participants got a chance to play the role
of a father, mother and a child and give each other love. She explained how one
must be able to love oneself first and then that love will spread to our family
and others.
Post these exercises the women felt relaxed, calm, happy and some
were also very emotional. Some even fell asleep during the meditative session
giving them the much needed mental rest and break from household tensions and
worries. She then performed a small aarti of the woman to make her respect the
God within herself and then presented each woman with a rose to remind her of
how beautiful and special she is.
The 3 sessions were conducted by the C.C.O of
Roshani Grah CCO - Ms.Sushilaa Pallicha and CSA staff Ms.Mishal Dabre Feedback from the women was positive as they
had several queries about their health and many felt the need to tell their
children and grand children about the things suggested. Most found the session
very simple and light and felt the resource person really came down to their
level and helped them understand basic concepts.
Mishal Dabre
Senior Social Worker, Centre for Social
Action
