{"id":402833,"date":"2023-12-13T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=402833"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"New-program-exposes-students-to-health-topics-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/New-program-exposes-students-to-health-topics-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"New program exposes students to health topics, issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. and the Division of Youth Services\u2019 Youth Empowerment Action for Health program concluded on Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan, where 11 participants from middle and high schools across Saipan were recognized as part of the initiative\u2019s newest cohort.<\/p>\n

As part of the ceremony, participants had a chance to share what they\u2019ve learned while being a part of the cohort, and shared the knowledge they have acquired. Their topics spanned from non-communicable disease, mental health, suicide, and food addiction, to drug and alcohol misuse and awareness.<\/p>\n

YEAH facilitator Eloise Lopez said the program actually got started in September, and was done for over two months, providing participants with work experiences and interactions with not only peers but also local health workers.<\/p>\n

It also gave participants creative space to design a health campaign of their own that is especially catered to teens and young adults, as well as socialize with others, get free training and networking opportunities, and improve their communication, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are not your typical kind of students. \u2026They are here today to show you that not only are they here to present, but to give you a learning experience of what they learned throughout the program and use this as a potential gateway to keep advocating for health to, and for, their communities,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cThese students will not end from here. Right after this program, they will continue to work furthermore on their health project and\u2026present to their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

One participant from Kagman High School, Nicole Sundiam, said the program was a good opportunity \u201cbecause it causes you to get out of your comfort zone and meet new people while learning about different non-communicable diseases in the CNMI and in the U.S., and gives you a new perspective on things.\u201d<\/p>\n

She would encourage others to participate in the program.<\/p>\n

She and her brother, Cee Jay, a participant from Chacha Oceanview Middle School, chose to give a presentation on one of the CNMI\u2019s top cancers, breast cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s often overlooked,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The topic also meant more to her on a personal level. \u201cI felt like I was also advocating for my aunt, because she\u2019s also a breast cancer survivor, so this felt good to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program was a collaborative effort between CHCC and DYS, but also included the support and cooperation of Northern Marianas College, the Public School System, and Marianas Health.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Siblings Nicole and Cee Jay Sundiam, both participants of the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. and the Division of Youth Services\u2019 Youth Empowerment Action for Health program, share about the dangers of breast cancer at the program\u2019s concluding ceremony last Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Resort in Garapan.<\/p>\n

-CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
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The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. and the Division of Youth Services\u2019 Youth Empowerment Action for Health…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-402833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402833\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}