xx inspiration spotlight: Orzala Ashraf Nemat

On Monday evening I had a chance to talk with a very inspiring woman named Orzala Ashraf Nemat. Ms. Ashraf Nemat is an Afghan woman who founded an NGO dedicated to underground literacy and health eduction for women. She is currently a visiting Yale University World Fellow. The organization she founded is called Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghansitan (HAWCA). From the description from the website www.hawca.org,

[It] is a non-political, non-governmental and not profit making organization was established in January 1999 by a group of youth Afghan women and men. HAWCA's establishment was motivated by the despair and devastation suffered by Afghan women and children as victims of war and injustice in Afghanistan and as refugees in Pakistan. HAWCA is providing free social services in the following fields for the women and children of Afghanistan:

* Education
* Protection and Counseling
* Health and Child-Care
* Emergency Response Operations
* Sponsorship
* Promoting Income-Generating Activities

Orzala, who I sat next to at a dinner, only touched on all the amazing work the organization has been doing for the last decade. It is daunting to meet someone who has contributed so profoundly to her community. I know there are many people out there who are making huge strides locally, but it's easy to forget when you get caught up in your own little bubble.

One of the things that she mentioned was a book that I though was worth spotlighting: Where Women Have No Doctor. Written by Burns, Lovich, Maxwell and Shapiro, this resouce can be freely downloaded from the Hesperian Books website.

Where Women Have No Doctor combines self-help medical information with an understanding of the ways poverty, discrimination and cultural beliefs limit women's health and access to care. Developed with community-based groups and medical experts from more than 30 countries, Where Women Have No Doctor is an essential resource for any woman who wants to improve her health, and for health workers who want more information about the problems that affect only women, or that affect women differently from men.

This 2006 printing features new and updated information on HIV/AIDS, including the use of antiretrovirals and preventing mother-to-child transmission, treatment of sexually transmitted infections, family planning, TB, care for women who have had abortions, and medicines.

Topics covered include:

• Ways to stay healthy
• Pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding
• Health concerns of women with disabilities, girls, older women and refugees
• Sexual health, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections
• The use of medicines in women's health
• Mental health
• The politics of women's health
• Rape and other violence against women

Information many of us take for granted, which we've learned through school, our parents, or gynecologists, is being translated and disseminated through Hesperian and HAWCA. How inspiring is that. Just one small thing that makes a huge difference.