Improving the reproductive health of local women has been a lifelong passion for Silvia Flores. Born in Durango, Flores became one of the first women in Mexico to be educated as a registered nurse. She graduated from the University of Durango on a full scholarship and with a specialty in obstetrics. Today, she is one of Mexico’s foremost advocates of family planning, sex education, women’s health and education against domestic violence. Besides her Centro de Desarrollo clinic in Ajijic, where she sees patients daily, she extends her experience to the Tepehua Community Center in Chapala, gives classes in local schools and advises engaged couples under the auspices of the Catholic Church. She took time from her busy life last week to talk to Jeanne Chaussee about her career.
Why did you choose to study nursing and obstetrics?
I was offered a full scholarship through university. It was at a time when nursing was just becoming a real profession in Mexico. Up until then (the early 1970s) nurses were often considered to be not more than doctors’ maids. And there weren’t a lot of professional studies open to women at that time.
How did you end up in this part of Mexico with your own clinic?
I married a dentist in 1974 (Flores has been divorced for more than 20 years but remains friends with her ex husband) and we moved to San Pedro Tesistan on Lake Chapala. It soon became clear that the midwife there was not using decent hygiene. She even smoked during the deliveries. Women were ending up with bad infections and other serious problems that were avoidable. I got busy and began training midwives from several villages in better methods of pre-natal care, hygiene, delivery methods and post-natal check-ups. These midwives actually became licensed by the state. But no matter what many of these village women were having way too many children.
Why do you suppose that was?
Part of the problem was ignorance regarding birth control, and, of course, the Church preached against it. But I had to find ways to get the message out. Midwives have a privileged position with families. They are intimate with them and part of teaching about reproductive health is the idea of limiting the size of families. We had to cover the idea of birth control with other projects. We could not speak frankly. I had to teach myself how to talk about it without talking about it.
Is this still true today?
No. Today we can speak with more freedom. In the past, I couldn’t discuss sexuality openly. Today we can. For instance, at Tepehua, many of the women are very receptive to the idea of birth control. One of the problems that we have is that even if the women want to use birth control, they don’t have access to it and if they do, it’s too expensive. Working with a pharmaceutical company, I can have birth control devices like IUDs or pills on hand at low or no cost to give to them – for the women at Tepehua as well as the ones who come to the clinic in Ajijic. We are also able to do PAP smears. For many of the women in poor villages and neighborhoods, this is the first they have ever had. We regularly do breast exams as well.
Do you find the general health and reproductive education of women today better than when your project began?
Yes. In the larger cities, especially. People are realizing that the quality of life that they can offer their families is better if there aren’t too many kids and the mother stays healthy. But in the poorer areas, like Tepehua for instance, women are still having huge families—and without good care. Of the first 100 PAP smears I did at the Tepehua Community Center only three were normal. They didn’t all have cancer but they had a lot of sexually transmitted diseases and infections that could become cancer.
The name of your organization is Centro Desarrollo de Jocotepec. Why Jocotepec when the clinic is located in Ajijic?
The first clinic opened in Jocotepec in the 1980s. I had help with grants from the United States and I applied for my non-profit Civil Association (A.C.) status then. The clinic in Ajijic opened in 1991 as I had a grant from the World Health Organization. When the United States withdrew its grants during the first Bush administration, I closed the clinic in Jocotepec.
Do you still receive grants from the United States or the World Health Organization?
Those sources seem to have dried up. We were very lucky when a certain local resident passed away, and left us with a trust. Though the trust is diminishing all the time, we do get financial help from local outreach programs and the Chili Cookoff and private donors are helping with the Tepehua project. It’s really important because, according to government statistics, a Mexican woman dies of uterine cancer every two hours.
What is your ultimate goal?
My mission is the same as when I started. I want to continue to improve the quality of life for Lake Chapala families who have limited resources through projects that promote the health and well-being of the family.
Flores is as dedicated to her mission today as she was nearly 40 years ago. She has helped hundreds of Lakeside women stay healthy and have control in the size of their families. She has helped a generation of adolescents and young adults understand sexuality, the responsibilities connected to sexual behavior and gender issues. To find out how you can help with this important, successful on-going project, contact her at 766-1679.