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Murshidat: Female Primary Health Care Workers Transforming
Society in Yemen |
| Delores M. Walters
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This documentary video, based on anthropological research by Dr. Delores M. Walters,
highlights the female primary health care workers (murshidat) who were at the center of a
remarkable transformation in health care and social relations in Yemen during the 1990s.
Women with a sixth grade education and one year of medical training became agents of change
in the coastal Tihamah area of Yemen, where an African presence is most visible in the
landscape, customs, and physical features of the residents.
By rendering health services to coastal Yemenis who have historical and contemporary
cultural/ethnic ties to the horn of Africa and incorporating them into the training and
health care program, the murshidate are modeling the behaviors of a more egalitarian society
in accordance with Islamic and constitutional ideals.
The video features the murshidat's home visits and daily routines as they provide
immunizations, prenatal and well-baby monitoring, family planning and nutrition information,
malaria treatment, and delivery room services. The murshidat also speak out on their changing
roles and achievements and aspire to improve their work and home environments
The video Murshidat: Female Primary Health Care Workers Transforming Society in Yemen was
originally intended as a recruitment tool for use by the women in Yemen. Development workers,
health officials, policy makers and others in Yemen were also a primary audience for the film.
However, the success of the murshidat is applicable to countless developed and developing countries
where healthy, inclusive communities and economic and personal empowerment by and for women are
priorities. Therefore the video is also deal for college and community group discussions on women's
roles in overcoming racial, ethnic and economic inequality; health care delivery and accessibility;
and community development in the context of the global economy.
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Project director: Dr. Delores M. Walters,
a cultural anthropologist who specializes in community-based multicultural education courses and programs.
Project funding: AIYS/USIA and Fulbright-Hays
Fellowships and a grant from the Dutch government's aid to
Yemen program through Women Making Movies, New York City.
Video distribution: Penn State Media Sales.
1999. 35 mins. $50.00.
Online Publications
D. Walters, "Murshidat, Midwives, and Nurses: Muslim Women
Transforming Health Care and Social Relations in Yemen,"
Yemen Update 40 (1998) 32.
Dr. Walters has also provided the video with a companion
discussion guide.
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