Silvia Martinez-Schempp

Silvia Martinez-Schempp has a Masters degree in Social Work.  She has been a social worker for most of her career; in juvenile justice, child welfare, school social work, infant/toddler, as a family resource coordinator and as a mentor in the Hispanic Youth Program. For the last 12 years she has worked at the Grant County Health District as an HIV/AIDS case manger.

Silvia is a wise, compassionate woman who is recognized by peers and her closest friends for her insight.  She has a particular interest in how people discover themselves through the social environment, culture, biology and the lens of the self.

In 2003 she participated in the production of the award-winning film, Boobalogues:  Our Breasts, Our Lives. She has since participated in the presentation of this film at the Rural Washington Health Care Association in 2006, and several other presentations for women’s health and healing programs in 2007.  Her open and expressive reflections about her own breast stories add dimension to the discussion that follows the presentation of the film.

Silvia and Kathy Kiefer will lead the following program/discussion beginning with the presentation of the award-winning film:

Boobalogues: Our Breasts, Our Lives

Boobalogues: Our Breasts, Our Lives, is a 55-minute documentary exploring breast stories. The film portrays women of different ages and ethnic backgrounds sharing stories about breast-feeding, breast implants, bras, mammograms, cancer and breast reduction. With grace and humor, women candidly share their experiences, impressions and their deepest feelings about mammae.

This year, she will be co-presenting the program with Silvia Martinez-Schempp, one of the women appearing in the film.

For more information about the film, go to http://www.boobalogues.com

Boobalogues: Discussion

After the presentation of the film, Silvia and Kathy will guide a general discussion about breasts, but expect much more. Her goal was to produce a film that would invite discussion about breasts: why we want them, what to do with them when we get them, and what they mean in our lives. The discussion may cover a range of topics, including what breasts mean to you, what they mean to different societies, who gets to define what they mean, how and when they are shown or permitted to be shown, and much more.