Promotoras

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

Over 93% of our promotoras are women. They attend 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, promotoras offer care for minor illnesses and injuries, provide basic education on women’s health and nutrition, accompany patients to the nearest government clinic when they need more sophisticated care, and help their 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.