Promoting Healthcare Access in Hard-to-Reach Areas: A Mission Undertaken by ADECOTS in Malawi
Funny Maiden is a mother of two from Njaro Island, a remote and isolated area located in the area of Traditional Authority (T/A) Chiwalo in Phalombe District. For a long time, she has been struggling to access health services like medication due to the geographical position of her area.
The situation was worsened by the devastating impact of Cyclone Freddy, which damaged the area and affected the health delivery system.
She attested how she has struggled to raise her two children, saying it has not been easy to even access mere information on disease threats and outbreaks like cholera and malaria. Let alone access medication easily. But thanks to the intervention of the Applied Development Communication and Training Services (ADECOTS) which brought about a health fair called Arts for Life to her area.
Essentially, the Arts for Life fair is a community engagement activity which was facilitated by ADECOTS to provide communities of Njaro Island with a comprehensive platform to address healthcare and other community issues.
The Arts for Life fair was supplemented by the healthcare engagement visit by the Phalombe District Health Office (DHO) and Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) structure which was aimed at providing immediate healthcare services and distributing chlorine for improved water sanitation.
During the engagement visit, which directly benefited the majority of members of the community, the DHO conducted medical screenings and provided necessary treatments.
Maiden said benefited from vital information and services on nutrition and cholera, among others, during the two key activities.
“As a mother, I have been finding it hard to access chlorine or access information on nutrition. But I was privileged to access all these during the Arts for Life fair which ADECOTS organized in conjunction with Phalombe District Hospital. Had it not been for this event, I wouldn’t have accessed these vital services,” said Maiden, adding the fair linked her and other community members to community health volunteers which ADECOTS trained.
“During the Arts for Life fair my children were screened for malnutrition and I also got to know some of the health volunteers from our area whom I consult whenever I need information on health, particularly nutrition and,” said Maiden.
Maiden is one of hundreds of communities that have benefited from the Arts for Life fairs at Njaro Island. The intervention is being provided under the Zikutivuta Pati project which is funded by UNICEF.
According to ADECOTS’ programs manager Damien Chisikwa, Arts for Life fairs play a vital role in leveraging the power of the arts to engage and educate community members about health-related issues, particularly malnutrition and sanitation.
“The idea of this intervention is to promote access to healthcare information and services in hard-to-reach areas by improving community engagement and participation, building the capacity of community health volunteers in screening for malnutrition and providing essential healthcare services,” said Chisikwa.
He added that ADECOTS partnered with the Phalombe District Health Office (DHO) to train community health volunteers from Njaro Island in screening for malnutrition. The training covered topics such as identifying malnutrition indicators, assessing nutritional status, and providing appropriate referrals.
“The capacity building aimed to empower the volunteers to play a key role in identifying and addressing malnutrition cases within the community. And we are excited to report that the volunteers are supporting the hard-to-reach communities including Njaro Island in combating malnutrition,” said Chisikwa.