Promotoras

Our locally elected promotoras (community health workers) are at the center of Sacred Valley Health’s work.

Over 95% of our promotoras are women. Each promotora is elected by her community’s general assembly. She attends monthly trainings at the Sacred Valley Health office in Ollantaytambo. Each promotora takes on a leadership role in her community and becomes the community’s health liaison.  

In addition to educating others about how to stay healthy, she offers care for minor illnesses and injuries, provides basic education on women’s health and nutrition, accompanies patients to the nearest government clinic when they need more sophisticated care, and helps her community better understand how to navigate the local health system. 

Promotoras give frequent presentations on health-related topics to community groups and perform house visits to provide individualized health education.

As she advances through the program, a promotora also works with her community to identify health problems and utilize available assets to find creative solutions. 

Bottom line, promotoras become their communities’ main resource for health-related information and an important link to the government health system.