Improving the health of the community

Edward Mika and his team have just completed their latest health and hygiene outreach in the refugee settlements. Here is his report:

Group health training in Imvepi refugee settlement

The general aim is to improve the health of the community through creating awareness on family planning, water and sanitation, and prevention of malaria using LePSA method of training.

The specific aims are:

• To know more about the importance of child spacing
• To understand what Family planning means
• Identify the causes and problems associated with Family spacing
• Find solutions to the problems together.
• Identify diseases commonly found in water and lack of sanitation and how to prevent them.
• Identify danger signs of Malaria in children and take action in order to prevent death of children from Malaria
• To prevent perinatal and stillbirths due to Malaria complications in pregnancy
• Prevent and reduce the number of Maternal deaths
• To be able to prevent Malaria
• To distribute Mosquito nets

Outcomes & Impacts

1. 200 mothers/community members received Mosquito nets in Imvepi refugee settlement (Zone 4 and Zone 3. 107 people in Zone 4 and 93 people in Zone 3.) on 17th and 19th of Nov, 2021 respectively.
   

   Women with mosquito nets

2. 50 mothers received training in Zone 3 and 50 more mothers trained in Zone 4 during group training.

Comments

• People were very happy with the training saying the method used was very useful
• Wanted more similar training which should include the couples together.
• Some of the community leaders who attended said they would go to their communities and be the examples and will train others to improve their health through Radio announcements
• The family spacing area was the most important one during the training
• They said they are now going to protect their water storage and food hygiene and will be able to prevent themselves from diarrhoeal diseases and typhoid by boiling drinking water.