Kateri Participants Gather to Share Experiences

The quarterly in-person gatherings of the Kateri Program participants are an important part of their development. Karyn Choy, mentor to the Healthcare participants, gathered 2024 participants for an exchange of experience and support on July 14. Carmela Paz, intern coordinator, led a workshop for the 2024 interns earlier in the quarter. The goal of each gathering is to develop a community of support for the young women and give them a chance to interact with each other.

Healthcare Gathering

The healthcare program includes both current students and those who have graduated from their nurses training. Karyn is continuing to mentor the students who have finished their studies to help them adjust to problems they are meeting in their work roles. The program has grown from three to six scholarship recipients this year. They each introduced themselves and talked about their experience with the program and where they are in their studies.

Past and current healthcare scholars gathered to share about their experiences.

Karyn led a training course on self-care for nurses. As nursing is a demanding profession, it is important to know how to care of yourself as well as of your patients. She talked about the physical, emotional, and social signs that warn you that you are facing burn out. She shared activities that the young women can do when they detect the warning signs.

The activities are not only important for self-care but can be used to support family members and friends. The young women made a list of the self-care actions that they can begin to implement. They made cards with a picture of the self-care activity they committed themselves to as a reminder to have in front of them daily.

To end the day, they wrote messages of encouragement for each other to promote a circle of support that they can call on when they encounter difficult moments in their career and personal life. As you can see from the smiling faces in their picture, they left feeling a close community.

The women participated in exercises to encourage each other and themselves.

Intern Gathering

Carmela brought the 2024 interns together with some of the graduates of the program. They shared with the present young women what they were doing now. Josefina’s story was especially inspiring. She started in the program as an intern in a health center despite her training to teach preschool. She found she liked the work and went on to study for the career of a practical nurse.  She now is running her own pharmacy and providing basic healthcare in her community.

Carmela and Josefina

The young women also shared the best and worst thing that had happened to them at work during the quarter. They gave each other suggestions for handling the problems that arose. They celebrated together the good thing that had happened and shared words of support where things had not gone so well.

It is always good to add a little fun to each gathering so Carmela divided them into groups and each group taught a game that they all could enjoy together. 

The interns played games in addition to their discussions.

These quarterly “Encuentros” are a source of growth as problems are shared.  They learn they are not the only ones who encounter difficulties and that they can be overcome.  Your support for these programs is giving these young women the tools they need to confront all the obstacles they meet as they seek a better life for themselves and their community.