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Women’s Health Month ends with Zumba party
The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. capped its monthlong celebration of Women’s Health Month with a Zumba Party at the Garapan Central Park last Thursday.
Lots of people take part in the the Zumba Party last Thursday at the Garapan Central Park as part of Women’s Health Month. (Jayson Camacho)
The event is modeled after the National Women’s Health Week that is celebrated annually across the nation.
TaAnn T. Kabua, of the Division of Public Health Services’ Maternal and Child Health Bureau, said this was the first time ever for the CNMI to celebrate Women’s Health Month.
“We wanted to highlight the Zumba exercise because it is offered for free almost every day from 5pm to 8pm,” Kabua said, adding that more than 150 people joined the event last Thursday.
“We are planning to do this next year and have more activities and better access to care,” she said.
The Zumba Party is also a part of Zumba class that Let’s Move Marianas Alliance has been hosting at the Garapan Central Park since May 2015.
Zumba class coordinator Ernie Molina, who is a dialysis technician at the Commonwealth Health Center, said the program is developed through the Division of Public Health and is handled by Let’s Move Marianas Alliance head Amber Mendiola.
This was also the one-year anniversary for the Zumba class.
Joseph Caranto, a certified Zumba instructor under the Zumba Instructor Network, leads the Zumba classes. Caranto said he has been certified since November 2012.
“It’s free Zumba class given to the community from 6:30pm to 7:30pm from Monday to Thursday and we are so blessed that we have such a large turnout today and blessed that Caranto is still doing this and is volunteering his time for the public because our main objective is prevention—which is cheaper than a cure. I would like the public to know that we host Zumba workouts every night from Monday to Thursday,” Molina said.
Molina noted that more and more people have been taking advantage of the free Zumba classes every day—from just about 40 to over a hundred.
The Thursday event capped a long list of other activities the Division of Public Health Services lined up to mark the celebration of Women’s Health Month.
