Nutrition and GESI Workshop

The main purpose of this workshop held on September 2nd, 2016 was to build the capacity of VSHC staff and CHW’s in the areas of Nutrition and Gender Equality.
The Nutrition workshop was conducted by Volunteer Dietician Danielle and Dietician Rylene and a total of 23 people attended the workshop as part of staff capacity building.
The presentation focussed on promoting a healthy staff program and included carrying out a SNAP survey of the staff.
Healthy workplace policies were discussed, which included physical activity and a "Sit Less" policy.  

Staff capacity building

A survey was carried out with the CHW’s and health educators in regard to their behaviour with the patients and their knowledge on NCD and nutrition. The results of the survey were discussed with the aid of the screening tool and an action plan. This showed that staff have become more confident in providing education and this has resulted in many patients becoming more aware of NCD’s and understanding its risk factors. Despite the education around NCD’s and SNAP, behaviour change towards a healthier lifestyle is not always occurring.
Another presentation was given on the general healthy eating guidelines and the advantages of a good diet to help manage stress and fatigue for the staff at VSHC and the CHW’s. The reasons for, and symptoms of, stress and fatigue in the workplace were explained. The dietary management ideas included, eating a healthy diet, not skipping meals, drinking plenty of water, limiting caffeine intake, not overeating and making sure to do half an hour of exercise every day. Staff were also advised on the amount of salt and fluid to be taken per day. There was also discussion about how our psychological state of mind and our emotions affect our intake of food and the importance of consistent physical activity for better health.

Activities Conducted

Physical activities such as circuit exercises and pilates were carried out and the staff actively participated.
Demonstration of a healthy lunch meal was shown to the staff, which included discussing the need to always keep the meal balanced and what the significance of each food item was. The staff gave positive feedback on the nutrition workshop and expressed their interest in having another similar workshop in the future.
The workshop was a good opportunity to advocate the message of nutrition and wellness to the staff and the importance of practicing what you preach.

GESI Training

The afternoon session, which covered three activities on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), was conducted by Jokapeci and Koroi.
This session started with the "social inclusion walk" whereby all the staff were given a role to play. Each of these roles represented real life situations that are faced in the community on a day to day basis. These activities were conducted so that the staff could get a better understanding of how different communities function and why some people may be more willing to participate than others.
The second activity was the "rights walk" where each participant had to choose the right that they feel is more important for them and their families. This was then followed by an explanation from everyone as to why they chose that particular right and why they think it is more important than any other rights. It was more of a debate session since most of the participants thought that the rights they chose were better than the rest.
The last group activity was on Gender Socialisation and Masculinity. Participants were divided into groups to discuss the traits of a “man box” on both males and females within the families and also in the workplace. The session ended with group presentations and discussion from each group on the benefits and harms of being a male and a female.