An interactive way of learning about cancer and healthy living in a multicultural setting (part one)

: Health education is essential not only for preventing illnesses but also for knowing how to act when disease comes. In countries where the education system is inefficient for most of the population and where health issues are often ignored or mistreated because of ignorance or well-intended but ineffective belief in nature's energy and magic, it is important that people have access to truthful information about health issues. Such access allows them to act adequate knowledge and also to learn ways to avoid illness by changing their daily habits into a "healthy way of living." Approaching the young population is a way to achieve this objective. The program described here considers the education of both majority (indigenous) and minority (non indigenous) populations. It approaches the communication of information in such a way that it involves the participants in the "making" of the education. The participants actively interact with didactic material that allows them to experience "hands on" the issues about cancer and healthy living. It is intended to have a profound impact on the participant, so that he/she will remember the "education" not only as information but also as an experience. The program includes specific material for the indigenous population, which is based on their idiosyncrasy (corn plants) so that they can more easily understand the concepts. In Guatemala, UNOP (Unidad Nacional de Oncologia Pediatrica) is the only institution that provides a quality integral service for the majority of the entire children-with-cancer population. UNOP and the Psychology Department are interested in the development and implementation of education programs such as this where the participant not only learns but also experiences information about this disease and its prevention.