Professional development program

Please visit this site regularly for details of ongoing and new courses. To book any of our training sessions or for more information please contact the training coordinator on 9689 9588 or via email except where otherwise noted.

Working with Women and their Families from the Horn of Africa

A regular feature on Women's Health West's training calendar is our popular workshop "Working with Women and Their Families from the Horn of Africa".This interactive workshop offers discussion of issues and practical information on how to work effectively with women and their families from the Horn of Africa.

Two Women's Health West Family and Reproductive Rights community workers (FARREP) Munira and Rumia deliver the content of the training with support from Health Promotion worker, Krystyna. Munira is originally from Eritrea and Rumia is from Somalia.

Both presenters themselves have different stories of growing up in Africa and also different experiences of migrating to Australia. The different backgrounds of the two presenters highlight the varied lives and backgrounds of African women settling in Australia.

Throughout the training Munira and Rumia provide cross-cultural information and explore many issues. The first section highlights life in Africa, including a geographical overview, differences between men and women, how boys are valued in comparison to girls, the importance of having children, and women's immense support of each other particularly following birth ('Forty Days'). The participants are shown slides and offered information about dress and religion, highlighting the different dress codes for Islam and Christianity.

Following "Life in Africa", participants are led through the migration process, including discussion of personal experiences. The discussion includes mental health issues such as depression in the context of settlement.

The third stage of the training addresses issues of life for African women and their families in Australia. Topics covered are family violence and the experience of racism with a focus on women as women are easily identifiable as Muslim due to the wearing of the Hejab.

The participants' learning needs are identified early in the training and presenters endeavour to address these issues throughout the course of the training. A large amount of time is given for questions to be discussed and answered.

Following is a selection of comments from evaluation at the end of training sessions:

"Very informative and enlightening."
"Professional speakers with warmth, genuineness and life experience."
"I have learned about life in Africa, cultural differences, men's and women's roles, and refugee arrivals."
"Brilliant – comprehensive, practical, meaningful. Thank you, it was excellent"
"The presenters' information from an African perspective, using their own stories of country of origin was most useful."
"Linking learning objectives to the expectations of the group made the training meaningful."

This course is offered regularly, and an advanced workshop for those who have attended this training is now being planned. To find out more please contact us on 9689 9588 or via email.