Medina Idriess

Bilingual Health Educator
Language(s): Arabic, Tigre, Tigrigna

I have been a MCWH Bilingual Health Educator since 1999. My role involves delivering and facilitating health education sessions with groups of women or working with individual women to explore their health and wellbeing needs on a broad range of related issues. Providing culturally appropriate information, supporting women's access to services, making relevant referrals, and engaging in advocacy and cultural support work are some of the ways I achieve this.

Empowering women to make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing has always been my goal. In my homeland of Eritrea I was a teacher but I often found myself in both leadership and support roles supporting my community. The MCWH 'woman-to-woman' approach reflects my early aspirations and recognises women are enriched by the sharing of their knowledge and experience. It also reinforces the empowerment created by exchange and the role this plays in making informed decisions and taking control of our lives.

I am proud to create a culturally appropriate, safe environment within which women feel safe to express their opinions and their needs, because they are exchanging with other immigrant and refugee women who know what it is to be an immigrant and refugee woman.

I now possess nine years of experience in bilingual health education. My focus is supporting newly-arrived women whose issues often include accessing relevant services including MCWH and screening services such as those relating to breast and cervical health. I also work as a FARREP community worker both at MCWH and at the Royal Women's Hospital Melbourne and hold a Graduate Diploma in Social Science from Victoria University.