Training of CHWs
The 3rd module of the training presented by the team of the 3 Stones Approach took place during this month. As usual the training was over two days. It began with a recap on the challenges the CHWs had encountered since the last trainings and the solutions. One of their challenges was trying to convince older people to boil their water before drinking it. Older people argued that they had never boiled water before drinking it and they were still alive. Changing mind sets is an on-going challenge. We then turned our attention to flytraps since while going around the villages, we had noticed that although a great number of flytraps festooned the parish many were empty of flies and bait. We came to the conclusion that these people did not understand the workings of the flytrap. The CHWs who had successful flytraps shared their experiences and recommended to their fellow workers the types of bait they had used. The most popular bait seemed to be a dead rat which they shared among themselves (easy to come by and free).
Teamwork - Group 3 working together on a flytrap
The second day dealt with maternal health, child spacing and nutrition. Maternal health stretches from 0 – 9 months and continues 6 weeks after birth however maternal mortality is still very high in Uganda. The major causes are haemorrhaging, obstructive births, tetanus, unsafe abortions and hypertension. Other causes were malaria and HIV. With neo natals from 0 – 28 days 29 babies in every 1000 die. We invited the Traditional Birth Attendees (TBAs) that operate in our community. We are encouraging them to collaborate with the medical staff in the Health Centre, share their knowledge and experience and so enhance the survival rates of mothers and babies. We had a very interesting presentation by the In-Charge of the Health Centre and he encouraged fathers to become more involved in the process of parenthood emphasising their roles and responsibilities in starting and bringing up a family.
The In-Charge explaining the importance of Maternal Health
The CHWs wanted to have some more training in communication skills as they are sometimes faced with rejection from the families they are trying to help. We decided to work on their approach towards the various members of the community. Most people object to being told that their homes are not hygienic or conducive to good health but there are various psychological approaches that can help in these situations. First of all one must respect the culture of the community, this may mean no references to people’s beliefs. One must be suitably dressed when visiting a family and be able to greet that family with respect.
depiction of two CHW's visiting a family home whitout showing due respect in the way they're dressed.
Of course there is nothing better than some dancing and singing when energy and concentration starts to flag. Some of our CHWs are very versatile and love performing.
After Lunch entertainment
