Open publication - Free publishing
Showing posts with label Toronto Public Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toronto Public Health. Show all posts
Monday, December 13, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Empowering Torontonian women to talk about sex and sexuality
By Vanessa Brown
My beat members and I have noticed that, more than anything, most of our stories have the importance of communication in common. And last Saturday was no exception. The Empowering African Immigrant Women to Become Leaders in Raising Sexually Healthy Children workshop was open and honest dialogue in action.
It wasn't the first time the program's been offered. Last year, Toronto Public Health facilitated a similar education series. However, the co-ordinator's noticed that it was being taught from the top-down. The curriculum didn't leave enough room for participants to voice their own opinions on sexual-health information. So it didn't take.
This time around, Toronto Public Health teamed up with Africans in Partnership Against AIDS (APPA), which provided a social worker to help with the workshops. Even better, the social worker knew the participants personally.
I walked into the narrow basement of APPA last Saturday and was immediately overtaken with the warm voices of nine recent immigrants to Canada. They spoke primarily in French. Thinking the language barrier might hinder my ability to get the story, and get it right, I sat down with caution.
My beat members and I have noticed that, more than anything, most of our stories have the importance of communication in common. And last Saturday was no exception. The Empowering African Immigrant Women to Become Leaders in Raising Sexually Healthy Children workshop was open and honest dialogue in action.
It wasn't the first time the program's been offered. Last year, Toronto Public Health facilitated a similar education series. However, the co-ordinator's noticed that it was being taught from the top-down. The curriculum didn't leave enough room for participants to voice their own opinions on sexual-health information. So it didn't take.
This time around, Toronto Public Health teamed up with Africans in Partnership Against AIDS (APPA), which provided a social worker to help with the workshops. Even better, the social worker knew the participants personally.
I walked into the narrow basement of APPA last Saturday and was immediately overtaken with the warm voices of nine recent immigrants to Canada. They spoke primarily in French. Thinking the language barrier might hinder my ability to get the story, and get it right, I sat down with caution.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)