Empowering health

Health-care workers are encouraging Arkansans to get the flu and covid vaccines before the holidays as cases rise. I am thankful for well-trained health-care providers who work hard to provide us with resources to battle sickness. I received the covid and flu shots recently, which took 10-15 minutes. I am grateful for health-care access because a few months ago, I traveled to a clinic by bus for two hours when I was sick in Peru.

While waiting at the clinic, I saw an indigenous woman walk in who could barely speak because she had an enlarged mass on her neck. I wondered why the woman had not come in sooner when she was in a lot of pain. I later realized she had to walk for hours or days to reach the clinic.

This past summer, I volunteered for a nonprofit in Peru called Awamaki, which empowers indigenous women by promoting their businesses in weaving clothing. The women I worked with told me they avoided going to clinics because they were far and cars rarely passed by their community. However, if they became sick, they would stop working for days without earning income.

Access to rural health care is a prevalent issue globally and Sen. John Boozman is on the subcommittee that funds foreign aid. I was encouraged to hear that Senator Boozman had offered to write to USAID requesting information about their primary health-care spending.

Improving health care abroad means the women I worked with could visit the clinic and continue working to support their families, and the woman I encountered at the clinic could be treated earlier. I encourage Senator Boozman to write the letter as soon as possible, and I hope he continues to support empowering women and women’s health in Arkansas and globally.

BRITTANY CHUE Springdale