Since July 2014, WINGS has trained 19 new promoters, expanding the network to 74 women and men in Alta Verapaz, four of whom are funded by PopOffsets.
“Here we have a great need for family planning. I don´t want to see women suffer from having too many children anymore. My poor mother gave birth 24 times and I myself have 7 children. Before, we didn´t know about family planning…but now we are being given an opportunity to educate and protect ourselves to avoid unnecessary deaths due to pregnancy. And truthfully, our children are the ones who end up suffering because we don’t have enough to support them.”
The 74 promoters have been instrumental in organizing and delivering 143 community talks about family planning to 1,016 women and men in the three month period.
80% of participants in the community talks self-identified as Mayan Q’eqchi’ and Poqomchi’, which is significant considering reported unmet need for family planning services among indigenous Guatemalans is nearly 30%. This is due to geographic isolation, economic barriers, and general fears about side effects.
With ongoing supervision from WINGS, the promoters are able to address these fears and overcome local barriers so that marginalized Guatemalans are able to access safe and effective family planning methods. Since July 2014, our network of promoters have administered 1,377 three month Depo-Provera injections, 290 one month Cyclofem injections, distributed 147 monthly hormonal pill packets, 467 condoms to 1,154 returned users and 686 new users.
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