The New Sattva Vita Health and Education Center in Managua Opens its Doors to the Community!!

After a year and a half of construction efforts, WWD-F's Sattva Vita Holistic Health and Education Center opened its doors to a community that has been waiting anxiously for its services. Sabana Grande is a poor, semi-rural district located about 20 minutes from downtown Managua. Initial results from a needs assessment survey conducted by WWD-F staff in Managua indicated a general lack of nutritious diet, healthy habits, and access to appropriate health care in the community. The new health center will promote healthy lifestyles that include the increased consumption of fruits and vegetables and regular physical exercise.

The clinic is currently offering an assortment of health services. Dr. Luisa Rojas, a medical doctor trained in both conventional and complementary health care, is the director of the medical staff. Community residents, facing a shortage of health care options in Sabana Grande, are very pleased that the center has finally opened.

The community health and nutrition initiative of the center, called Healthy Living, Healthy Community, will begin soon as well. This program will include the following activities:

• a public awareness campaign that will inform the public about the importance of healthy habits and how to incorporate them into one’s daily routines.
• neighborhood clean-ups that will eliminate garbage and other environmental health risks from the community
• nutrition and cooking classes to help residents adopt healthier diets
• physical exercise classes and activities, such as Latin dance, yoga, and aerobics, to provide more opportuntiies for exercise
• Family Garden trainings that will teach residents how to create and maintain gardens in their own backyards.
• instruction in the use of eco-stoves -- fuel-efficient, wood-burning stoves that help reduce deforestation and improve the quality of a family’s health by removing toxic smoke from the kitchen through the use of chimneys.
• health education workshops in the local public schools that will include the development of a school garden.
• the training of local health promoters to educate the commuity about healthy lifestyles and the development of family gardens to increase access to healthy food.

Some recent images of the first patients at the clinic:

“The poor in Nicaragua cannot afford to get sick. There is no scheme to support those suffering from chronic illnesses; they just go hungry if they are unable to work.”

D r. Luisa Rojas, Sattva Vita Holistic Health and Education Center Staffperson