Claudia Alonso, Facilitator
Claudia Alonso (second from the right) trains a group of brigadistas to carry out household dialogue visits.
I would have to go back to 2004, when I was invited to work as a volunteer brigadista. As of that moment, I began to visit several households and to interact with all sorts of people. We established a relationship with health centres and communities. Over time and due to my performance as a volunteer, I was asked to become a promoter for the health centre. Years later, around 2009, I was again invited to participate in the community leadership council.
As a neighbourhood facilitator [for the Camino Verde project] I have to acknowledge that there are worthy community leaders in the neighbourhood and that, with their support, we have been able to walk hand in hand with households and brigadistas. One of the changes brought on by SEPA is that the brigade is more widely accepted; finding out that there are community members capable of dedicating their time to the well-being of their neighbours, families and friends; and that households request visits. Also, the way in which, through hard work and dedication, we have managed to decrease positivity from 36% to today’s 22% — and the challenge continues.