Aisha Osman

Community health worker Aisha Osman spends her time educating Somali youth on healthy eating and physical activity through a 10-week curriculum she helped craft.  She has found that her most important and challenging job has been to engage her students in the class and motivate them to take the first step toward a healthier lifestyle. The most rewarding part of her job has been watching her class of initially apathetic high school boys initiate lively in-class discussions and urge each other to make healthy choices. So far, over 50 students have benefited from the Somali Healthy Youth Initiative.

Aisha Osman Interview

1)    Describe your role as a CHW in your community. What activities do you perform as a CHW?
•    Health educator – bring useful/pertinent health information to the community in a way that is meaningful to them
•    Create/modify curriculum to fit the specific target audience
•    Teach 6 classes on nutrition/physical activity/exercise per week to all different age groups (elementary, high school, elderly)
2)    What is one outcome/activity/assistance you have accomplished/provided as a CHW of which you are most proud?
•    Created a curriculum for youth nutrition education/physical activity that was able to meet our grant requirements while still fulfilling national health education standards for use in high school classrooms
•    Found a way to effectively engage apathetic students in health/nutrition/physical education discussions (through use of video to stimulate discussion)
3)    Where do you see your role/activities as a CHW headed in the future?
•    Always see myself in the community – would like to learn to be able to create effective programs for kids and moms to keep them healthy and excited about their health
•    Get more in depth training on other health issues pertaining to the Somali community
4)    What stories can you share about your MIHV training and support has assisted you in improving your community’s health?
•    Training in specifics of heart rate, blood pressure and BMI provided by MIHV gave me a much deeper understanding of what these measures mean. Because I had a detailed understanding of what each of those measures mean for the students, I was then able to explain them to the high school students in a way that was meaningful to them. After I explained it, they were so interested in what their measures were and how they could improve them and motivate each other to be healthy.
5)    How have your training and work helped specific individuals or the health system generally?
•    Through MIHV training and guidance from other CHWs have learned how to engage the Somali ladies who come to elders’ exercise class – one lady comes every single week and talks about how the program has helped her relax and feel physically and mentally better  - what a huge difference it has made in her life.
•    Got the rowdy high school boys actually interested in nutrition/physical activity by bringing the messages to them in a way that was meaningful and applicable – using video to stimulate discussion and get their attention.
6)    What else would you like to share about being a CHW?
•    That it is a great responsibility – probably the greatest responsibility I have come across – to share information that will keep people healthy with my community.
•    I feel great to be considered a CHW
•    CHW is for people who are truly passionate about helping other and really interested in being involved in the community