NASHUA, N.H. --New Hampshire's first health conference for minority women will be held in Nashua next week, drawing participants from across the state, including 71 refugees from Somalia, Russia, and South and Central America.

"We want to motivate and empower women to address health topics, their health, their family's, and the community's health,"
said Marianela Ramirez of the states Office of Minority Health in the Department of Health and Human Services.

She said interpreters fluent in Spanish, French, Russian and Swahili will be available, as will those versed in American Sign Language.

Keynote speakers at the conference, scheduled for June 30, are Laura Knoy, host of New Hampshire Public Radio's "The Exchange," and Treda Collier, coordinator for recruitment of students of color at Phillips Exeter Academy. Other presenters include experts in health, finance and spirituality.

Presenters also include Nashua public health nurse Bobbie Bagley, whose talk is titled, "What Women Need to Know to Keep Themselves Healthy, Happy, and Safe!" Also scheduled are talks on chronic fatigue, massage, environmental health in the home, and self-advocacy using a legal handbook written for women.

"It's the first time we are actually inviting the public, minority consumers, to learn about their own health care in a group meeting," said Paula Smith, director of the Southern NH Area Health Education Center in Raymond. She said the conference wants to reach out to "women as a whole who are minorities, single moms, those who are economically disadvantaged, who have physical disabilities."

The conference is open to any interested woman, regardless of her ethnicity, language, or race, said Kelly Laflamme, a member of the planning committee who works for the Endowment for Health, the state's largest health-care foundation.

The conference is open to any interested woman, regardless of her ethnicity, language, or race, Laflamme said.