My name is Salome Tulay Worship. I am a Program Manager and have been with Community Healthcare Initiative (CHI) for eight years.
In Liberia poor women are not always included in the spaces where decisions are made about them. We still have a patriarchal system in the country. Even though we have had a female president and people do recognise that women can be in power you will still have men in higher authority who believe women can’t do much.
At CHI we are able to work with the community and link them up with those in power so that their voices are heard. This is very important as if you experience something you are better able to express it – we ensure that those most affected by the issues are brought into advocacy spaces.
I think women have shown over time that they can do a lot here and can make changes.
Working for CHI has given me a stronger voice as someone who has actually worked in the community and understands the issues. We are seen as having credibility – we know what we’re talking about.
I am passionate about abortion rights due to my own experience.
I had an abortion when growing up but due to my Christian faith at the time I always felt guilty about it. However, when I started working with CHI I started to see how much of an issue unsafe abortion is and I started to understand more about it. I also realised that if I had not done that at the time, I would not be where I am today because I was not prepared financially or in my relationship at the time. What helped me was talking about it and realizing that it was a health issue. I wasn’t ready to have this kid. It was a choice so that I could go on and live my life and I was at peace with it. Working here has helped me too as seeing the experiences of others is highly relatable.
My passion comes from what I see in the community. The cases of preventable death. Women who could have had a simple procedure but end up doing something that might harm her or her chances of having children later on. If someone with money needs an abortion she can easily access it safely, but if you go to the level of the community you might find a lot of young people who cannot afford a doctor and still resort to an unsafe procedure if they can’t come to somewhere like CHI.
I would like to see the removal of restrictions in the abortion law.
At the moment economic reasons are not enough to access legal safe abortion. By having these restrictions it means that someone else decides for people if they must have a baby or not when they should be able to decide for themselves. I want to see an unrestricted law that allows people to have safe abortions, because in the end it is a health issue and if they don’t have access, they will be forced to go for alternative methods. And we all know that this can be risky and endanger women’s lives.
We all should stand up and speak out. Those campaigning for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) should not just pick the easy wins such as talking about family planning or maternal care. If you are in the SRHR space you should be comfortable advocating for all related issues – whether it is abortion or LGBTQI rights. We should be prepared to be a little uncomfortable because that’s the only way you can make change.
For me, as a woman working for CHI I feel good because we didn’t have this growing up. It helps to know that we have a lot of young people growing up knowledgeable about a lot of things and empowered to make informed decisions, especially about their body. When I was growing up, even talking about body parts was a taboo. We grew up so restricted and controlled. We were confused when we got our periods but now that we can have these conversations with people in the community and set people up to better prepare themselves it makes me feel very proud.
Interview with Salome Tulay Worship – Program Manager at Community Healthcare Initiative (CHI), a SAAF grantee partner in Liberia.