Health Education Day and Net Distribution 2005 Report
Sep. 12 2005Download the 2005 Health Education Day full report in PDF Format
The Health Education Day and mosquito net distribution took place in Mbita, Kenya on September 9, 2005. The Akado Medical Center(AMC) held a public health event for the community in Mbita, called Malaria Education Day. On this day, they distributed the first set Project Mosquito Net of malaria bed nets. The recipients of the nets were both AIDS orphaned children, under the age of 5 years old and pregnant mothers with children under the age of five years old. The Akado clinic staff did a wonderful job of inviting local government officials and the community which including one hundred and twenty seven orphaned children, seventy three care providers for the children, other clinic clients and multiple Akado volunteers. Be the Cause provided ninety two mosquito bed nets and in addition, the Ministry of Health of the Kenyan government donated 120 mosquito nets.
Attended by:
127 orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs)
26 Akado Medical Centre (AMC) clients (PLWAs)
73 of the children’s care providers
AMC Collaborators and Volunteers
We were graced by the presence and participation of the following government officials:
Representative of the District Malaria Control Officer
Public Health Officer/Mbita Constituency AIDS Control Committee Coordinator
Suba District Nutritionist
Mbita Catholic Parish Priest
The Area Chief (Provincial Administrator)
Brief Welcoming Speech and Introduction
The occasion opened with a word of prayer from a woman named Mama Dero, who is an elderly care provider for orphan children.In Mrs. Joyce Ouma’s brief but warm welcoming speech, she expressed the staffs special gratitude to the participants for their attendance. She thanked the community for their active involvement and participation in Akado Medical Centre’s (AMC’s) programs and invited guests/key stakeholders for attending. “We are truly overwhelmed by your attendance in large number despite your busy schedules. Please, feel at home for today we shall go through a participatory learning process together. Let us be open, asking any questions whenever we do not understand a thing. In this manner, we shall together make Mbita “A Malaria Free Zone” she said.
Mrs. Ouma then led the congregation through a self-introduction session and all the participants in attendance introduced themselves to the gathering.
Briefings on AMC Core Programs
Mrs. Magdaline Ouma began by thanking everyone for making the Malaria Education Day a great success. She once more reminded the participants of the key programs of AMC as follows:
School Feeding Program
Home Based Care
VCT Services
Curative Health Services
PMTCT/Maternity Services
Household Food Security ServicesOn Malaria Education Day, the administrator said that AMC has assessed the local malaria situation in Mbita and selected a combination of control measures, which are most appropriate for our particular community, targeting especially the poorest and marginal households where the orphaned and vulnerable children live. She said that AMC works very closely with the community and the government in malaria control in Mbita. She thanked the donors of the center, Be the Cause and Power of Love for their donation of 92 mosquito nets and the Government of Kenya for their donation of 120 mosquito nets. She went on to thank Family Care Foundation for sponsoring the activities of the day and for the lunch for all the participants. She said that according to a baseline survey report of a survey carried out by AMC in 2004, 57% of people surveyed had malaria and 60% of these cases were children. Only 51% of the surveyed cases had mosquito nets and means of protection against mosquito bites. Malaria remains the leading killer in their area followed by HIV/AIDS.
Speech from Suba District Nutritionist
The District Nutritionist-Suba, Ms. Rachel Mwando emphasized the importance of nutrition. She compared nutrition with a new vehicle without fuel noting that the human body cannot function well without proper nutrition. She also emphasized on the high nutritional value of locally found foods like beans, potatoes, indigenous vegetables/crops and discouraged the care providers of OVCs to avoid expensive food found in shops which contains a lot of chemicals, low nutritional value and are harmful to their health. Ms. Mwando also encouraged mothers to breast-feed their children properly.
Speech from Mbita CACC Coordinator
Mr. Zadock Oguta thanked AMC for starting “Post Test Club” which is a support group for those tested and found to be positive with HIV. Post Test Club will significantly help those infected and or affected with HIV/AIDS live a positive life. The Mbita CACC Coordinator informed the participants that the government through his office has released Kshs. 8 million since the inception of AIDS campaign and is planning to release another Kshs. 5 Million to local CBOs once The National AIDS Control Council (NACC) finalizes everything.Mr. Oguta urged the attentive audience to form and register groups He identified organizations like AMREF-Maanisha Program, ADRA and WAFNET as some NGOs that have given support to various active groups in Mbita. He vowed that his office will assist in whatever way is necessary the Pre-test Club of AMC once it is registered with the relevant government authorities.
In conclusion, he urged members of the public to come out openly and visit the voluntary counseling and testing (CVT) center to be tested and to know their HIV status.
Remarks from the Area Chief
The area chief, Mr. K’owuor, congratulated the Akado Medical Center ladies for their dedication to hard work since the 1980s. The Chief encouraged the AMC clients to urgently facilitate the registration of the Post-Test Club and help themselves by sharing experiences, ideas and opinions. He also mentioned that they should identify income generating activities (IGAs) that they could do to make them more self-reliant hence allowing them to live longer in a happier life.Chief K’owuor went on to say that the clients whose majority were young women widowed by AIDS in the area needed a special self-sustaining program that could help them support their large families and urged the community to say no to sexual exploitation customs like widow cleansing and widow inheritance.
Speech from Mbita Catholic Parish Priest
The priest, Father Aloice, started by a short word of prayer, calling for God’s divine intervention into the myriad of problems facing the OVCs, PLWAs and the Mbita Community at large.
Health Education on Malaria from the District Malaria Control Officer’s Representative/Public Health Officer
On a note both of education and informative community participatory health the District Malaria Control Officer began by explaining why malaria control is important. He said that malaria is endemic in Mbita meaning it is present all the year round. The officer said that children are at greatest risk between the age of six months, when immunity from the mother fades, and five years when their own immunity is increasing.
The officer said that malaria in Mbita had become so serious that community control strategies like AMC Malaria Education Day are very vital in the campaign to reduce malaria in the area. He expressed high hopes that AMC Malaria Control program will greatly reduce the incidence of malaria within the target population. He thanked AMC for targeting orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) noting that this target was often sidelined by most malaria control programs.
The officer in his speech outlined ways of preventing malaria. He explained that Malaria was spread by an infected female mosquito that injects the malaria causing germ (plasmodium) into the human bloodstream at a bite. He summarized ways of preventing malaria infection as being three in the following manner:
Reducing mosquito breeding sites
All sources of standing (stagnant) water need to be identified and dealt with.
Remove fill areas near houses, where mosquitoes breed such as holes ditches, can lids etc.
Drain areas where water collects.
Build soak pits to remove household wastes.
Cover wells and drains, pit latrines tanks etc.
Clear away vegetation from banks of streams so that water flows fast into rooms before going to bed.
For community protection, set up community bed-net treatment programs.
Add petroleum oil onto the surfaces of small amounts of stagnant water that cannot be drained
Kill Adult Mosquitoes
For personal protection, spray pyrethroid insecticides
Preventing mosquitoes from biting people
The officer explained that this had become an increasingly important part of malaria control.
Use of mosquito bed nets, which he said works most effectively when impregnated with permethrin every six months.
You may also use insect repellents e.g. those containing DEET or burn mosquito coils
The officer went on to educate the participants on the advantages of using insecticide treated nets and mentioned the following as some of them:They help kill mosquitoes hence reduce their numbers. The insecticide treated nets protect those who sleep under them from other insects hence sleep better and have fewer skin infections.Children are more likely to survive and pregnant mothers are less likely to become seriously ill or die.
Concerning the treatment of malaria, the officer said, malaria is very dangerous and can kill rapidly. He said that malaria also mimics many other diseases, making diagnosis difficult. He pointed out that malaria parasites are becoming resistant to previously known drugs like chloroquine, making treatment increasingly ineffective. He said that in Mbita, many of the most vulnerable people live too far from any clinic. “Pregnant women and children under five years old are at greatest risk and they find it even harder to reach treatment centers” he said. To overcome these problems, he urged AMC to have carefully trained Community Health Workers (CHWs), who can recognize, treat and refer near the people and with reliable supply of medicines.He finalized by giving the audience an opportunity to ask any questions concerning malaria as they wished. The participants actively and openly asked many questions, which were effectively discussed by all participants with practical solutions getting realized right then under the guidance of the the Public Health Officer, Mbita.
Distribution of Mosquito Bed Nets
Before the closer of the health education session, the representative of the District Malaria Control Officer, the District Nutritionist and the Area Chief presided over the distribution of mosquito nets to:
- 127 Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs)
- 26 Clients (PLWAs)
- 59 Elderly Care Providers and pregnant mothers
A total of 212 mosquito nets were distributed to the desperately needy cases, 92 of these having been donated by Be the Cause, USA, and the Power of Love and 120 nets having come from the Ministry of Health, Kenya.
The Public Health Officer, Mbita Division representing the District Malaria Control Officer, expressed the gratitude of his office to Be the Cause and Power of Love for their donations, which he said will significantly increase the survival opportunities of the OVCs. He expressed his feeling that AMC needed more nets to meet its set goals and objectives on Malaria control and high recommended that well-wishers should come out and kindly support the center.
Distribution of Food Supplements to PLWAs
The government officers present presided over the distribution of food, both corn and beans, to 27 AMC clients (PLWAs), who attended the function. Elderly care providers were also given food supplements on the day. The District Commissioner’s office donated 10 bags of maize, 4 bags of beans and cooking fat to AMC for its clients.
Feeding the participants at AMC
With kind support from Family Care Foundation, AMC organized a marvelous lunch to all the participants and a delicious meal was served to 127 OVCs, 27 Clients (PLWAs), 58 Elderly Care Providers and pregnant mothers, the invited guests, AMC staff and volunteers plus all community members present. OVCs and PLWAs are served lunch during the Malaria Education Day at AMC.
Vote of Thanks
Mrs. Jane Oraya led all participants in singing a moving song. She expressed special thanks and appreciation to AMC donors, specifically Be the Cause and Family Care Foundation and the government of Kenya’s Ministry of Health. “Your kindness has touched the hearts of many and will go a long way saving the lives of hundreds of OVCs. We owe Be the Cause and Power of Love lot,” she said.Jane thanked the District Commissioner’s office for their support which meant a lot for the success of the occasion. Their donation of 10 bags of maize, 4 bags of beans and cooking fat were sent home with the PLWAs and OVCs and shall be used in the school feeding program for OVCs in future. Jane thanked all the participants singling them out as being the ones who made the day a success. She ended her speech with a word of prayer before inviting participants for lunch, organized by Mrs. Gaudensia Juma, Mrs. Regina Okinda, Caren Odede and Bena.
The net fundraising and purchasing were conducted by Stacey Blaschke and Alka Subramanian.
For more info: Project Mosquito Net is a grass based project and collaboration between Power of Love and Be the Cause. To donate or for more information please go to: http://www.projectmosquitonet.org.
