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Celebration of Marriage, Motherhood, and on-location filming of
Al Afdal television show draws crowd of thousands
 Communication
for Healthy Living (CHL) launched its Family Health campaign in
Qena on March 25th, focusing on the Post-partum Care
Initiative. H.E. Adel Labib, Governor of Qena, joined H.E. Ahmed
Eissa, Chairman of the Ministry of Information State Information
Services along with community leaders and partners at the
official launch event for all stakeholders held at the Qena
Girl’s Club. CHL coordinators from all health sectors presented
CHL’s cross-cutting campaign activities and plans for Qena.
Appearances by the Qena Girl’s Soccer Team—Middle East
champions, and the children’s choir of the Qena Cultural Center
punctuated the themes of empowerment and gender equity inherent
in CHL’s family health campaign. The children’s choir performed
songs with health themes such as handwashing, including an
original number produced especially for the event entitled, “Sahatek…Sarwetek,”
the slogan of CHL’s family health campaign meaning, “Your
Health…Your Wealth.” CHL partners in the Ministry of Health and
Population began rolling out activities over the weekend,
conducting an Arab Women Speak Out training for local health
outreach workers, a local leaders training for priests and
mazouns (Muslim marriage registrars), and a Dawar meeting
for male heads of household in the village of Al Towayrat.
 The launch day
climaxed with a wedding party for 20 newlywed couples attended
by over 2000 people, amplifying campaign themes and messages to
pave the way for project activities. Held under the auspices of
H.E. Governor Adel Labib at the open air theater on the dazzling
Nile promenade in Qena, TV celebrity Tarek El Allam hosted an
episode of his popular show, Al Afdal (The Best), on
location. The event featured several famous Egyptians with
origins in Qena to inspire the newlyweds, live audience, and
viewers at home to do the best they could with their lives by
planning for their future and taking care of their health. H.E.
Governor Adel Labib presented several awards to Qena’s
outstanding citizens, such as the “Mother of Qena,” the “Best
Citizen,” and the “Best Community Development Association,” and
also honored the Qena Girl’s soccer team along with a new mother
and her baby, who reinforced maternal/child health messages and
announced her decision to wait four years before having her
second child.
The goal of CHL’s cross-cutting health communication project is
to enable Egyptian families and communities to protect and
maintain their health. Whole populations of young people are
entering reproductive age and facing the health challenges of
adulthood and establishing their families; in underserved areas,
men and women remain in need of health information and services.
CHL’s Newlywed and Post-partum Initiatives focus on family
planning initiation, neonatal care and maternal health with
strategic, integrated activities designed to empower people to
make health choices that will have a lasting impact on the
health of their families. Publicity events enhance the overall
campaign message that good health is the result of informed
positive behavior choices and planning and is something to be
celebrated and cherished, also promoted in the slogan “Your
Health… Your Wealth” (Sahatek…Sarwetek). |
