Describe what you do day to day?
I coordinate BHA’s HIV and STI testing and work within the community to offer information and advice, as well as designing culturally appropriate health sessions for the communities we work with. Working in the community is the thing I love most. I do a lot of work with refugees and give them advice about speaking with the doctor. I create sessions that create a safe space for people to open up about their health, which I love as usually many of these communities don’t feel comfortable talking openly about health. I work predominantly with ESOL groups, delivering sessions to people from countries such as Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan and Syria.
Greatest achievements?
One of my greatest achievements is running a session in an ESOL group where I got a group of women to talk about their health for the first time. During the session we talked openly about symptoms, where many of the women realized they were going through perimenopause or experiencing symptoms of possible reproductive conditions such as endometriosis.
Challenges?
Gaining trust in the communities can be a challenge, especially when I come into the ESOL groups and they are nervous talking about health. Getting people to open up can be tricky. Sexual health is a big taboo for the communities I work with, and I work with them to overcome the stigma. I mainly cover sexual and reproductive health, as well as the signs and testing of reproductive cancers – cervical, testicular, breast and prostate cancer.
Anything coming up?
Something I’ve been working on for a hopeful launch later this year is a program of group sessions for parents on the Relationship & Sex Education school curriculum. The government changed the curriculum for schools in 2021 to be more inclusive and you can no longer withdraw a child from the sessions. Many parents are nervous or feel uncomfortable about this and are concerned about what their children are learning in schools. These sessions will aim to educate parents on the school curriculum, ease their fears and provide parents with the tools they need to speak to their children about relationships and sexual health.