Ethnic Coalitions and Public Health: Delights and Dilemmas with the Afghan Health Education Project in Northern California

Working with ethnic coalitions is new in public health. The Afghan Health Education Project was funded by the California State Health Department to establish an Afghan coalition, do a community health assessment and plan culture/language appropriate health education. We describe attempts to balance the contract expectations with the cultural/political realities of the Afghan community, e.g., the dilemma of empowering people who refuse to take power because of potential political repercussions.