A little zumba, courtesy of instructor Willa Robinson Allen, is a healthy thing, and great fun, at “Salud es Fiesta,†held at the Southern Human Services Center on Homestead Road. Photo by Kirk Ross
By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
Members of the Latino community came together on Saturday to dance, eat and learn about fun ways to live a healthy lifestyle.
The event – “Salud es Fiesta,†or “Health is a Party†– was hosted by the LÃderes de Salud, a group of 12 trained volunteer health promoters in the Latino community, and focused on the fight against obesity and diabetes within that community.
MarÃa Bernardita Villalobos led the group in organizing the event, which included exercise demonstrations, dancing, nutritional food, health exhibits and more. She said the group had trained from January through June to become health leaders and plan programs like the event on Saturday.
Rubi Ocampo, one of the health leaders, said the group chose to focus the event on diabetes and obesity because they are two of the biggest health problems that affect the Latino community.
Nearly 50 participants of all ages learned zumba, an aerobic dance that incorporates dance styles from across Latin America. Willa Robinson Allen, a health educator and certified zumba instructor, led the group as they shimmied and shook to Latin music.
In addition, health promoter Lupita Torres demonstrated pilates and hula-hooping.
“Although we’re inside, we can exercise with just a hula-hoop,†Torres told participants in Spanish.
Olivia Moreno, a health promoter, showed participants how they could exercise in the house with a simple activity involving juggling scarves.
Moreno told participants that while sometimes they won’t want to leave the house to exercise because the weather is too hot or cold, “Now you see that you can exercise at home.â€
Registered dieticians Renee Kemske and Sarah Monje were on hand to offer professional nutrition and diet information. In addition, participants could view exhibits on diabetes, mother/child health, body mass index and nutrition information, while children participated in games and other fun physical activities.
The leaders also prepared traditional and non-traditional snacks and provided recipes.
Susan Clifford, senior public health educator with the Orange County Health Department, said she has trained a number of groups over the past several years as community health promoters, focusing mostly on the immigrant community. Two groups of health promoters meet regularly in the county – one in Chapel Hill and the other in Hillsborough.
“This group in particular has been a bit different,†she said, adding that the leaders had previously been trained as promoters but chose to further their education to become health leaders. “This was really to help them make more independent strides, to help them be more active leaders in the community.â€
Clifford has offered several different types of health promoter classes, including fire safety, emergency preparedness, child health, family health, men’s and women’s health and more.
To find potential health promoters, Clifford talks to members of the Latino community to find out who the natural helpers and leaders are.
Clifford said she would like to continue to offer health promoter and leader training but the classes rely on grant funding, which is not always available.
However, she encourages those interested to contact her about possible classes.
“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for people to give back to the community,†she said.
For more information or to get involved with health promotion, contact Clifford at 968-2042 or scliffor@co.orange.nc.us.
Para aprender más de las promatoras de salúd, contacte Clifford en 968-2042 o scliffor@co.orange.nc.us.