URL: http://www.amazonteam.org/index.php/254/Women_s_Programs_Colombia
Women's Programs: Colombia
Among the indigenous peoples of the Colombian Amazon, the responsibility for maintaining personal health is assumed primarily by women as mothers and grandmothers of the family; herbalists; traditional healers; rural health promoters; and the mamas (female shamans). Quite often, they also are the ones who have judiciously incorporated aspects of modern medicine into their healing practice. By supporting the mamas and their apprentices, ACT acts to promote the recovery, strengthening, and transmission of knowledge and traditional medical practices.
In 2004, ACT sponsored a first gathering of 35 women healers of the Colombian Amazon, purchased 80 acres for their use, and constructed a women's meeting and training center with dormitories. ACT provides support and equipment for the construction and maintenance of medicinal gardens and the production and sale of handicrafts. ACT also provides financial and logistical support to help the women, now over 60 strong, to arrange regular meetings between the women healers from various communities. Additionally, ACT sponsors training for the elders' assistants in basic accounting and other administrative skills, and thanks to donors like you, also provides stipends to those female healers who are over 70 and who live alone without any support.
Read more about Women's Programs