Healthy Child Uganda's Work

 

Click here to watch our video: A Healthy Child Uganda Introduction


 
Where is Healthy Child Uganda Located?

HCU has its head office in Mbarara town, Uganda, adjacent to MUST campus. HCU works in rural communities within the districts of Mbarara and Bushenyi in Southwestern Uganda. HCU communities can be found in the Black areas in the Map below.

Map 1 - HCU areas of Operation 

Map 2 -Closer View Of Healthy Child Uganda Health Centres and Communities

 

Building Capacity at Mbarara University of Science and Technology

HCU builds capacity at MUST through:

  • Faculty training (e.g. 5-day research methods workshops)
  • Faculty Mentoring (Canadian Faculty helping Ugandan Faculty with research writing)
  • Staff training and coaching on project mangement, group facilitation and child health
  • Student teaching
  • Supporting students in medical mandatory and multi-disciplinary elective community placements
  • Involving Student volunteers in Community Outreach
  • Supporting students, staff and faculty to present research at conferences
  • Providing research grants
  • Funding an annual journal subscription

Ultimately, HCU relies on MUST for the continuation and sustainabilty of the project. MUST has a long history of leadership in community-based child health programming and the concept of HCU originated from MUST faculty.

 

 

 

 

 

MUST Community Based Health Care Facilitators at work at Child Health Days


Building Capacity in Communities of South Western Uganda

HCU builds capacity in selected rural communities of South Western Uganda by:

Training volunteers elected by their villages to become Communty Owned Resource Persons (CORPs)

Training includes modules on:

  • Community Action Planning
  • Writing a Referral Letter
  • Organizing Child Health Days
  • Cough
  • Diarrhea
  • Malaria
  • Immunization
  • Breast feeding
  • Weaning
  • Feeding the Young Child
  • Growth Monitoring
  • Newborn Care
  • Antenatal Care
  • Family Planning
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Hygiene
  • Special Children
  • First Aid

There are two volunteers per village and as of June 2009 HCU has more than 350 active CORPs.  The CORPs, who are 69% female, register all under children under five in their village. They monitor these children regularly and pay close attention to children who are underweight or are at risk for other reasons such as chronic illness, disability or being orphaned. They conduct home visits where they educate parents on what they have learned during their CORP training. They monitor pregnant women for danger signs and when they hear about a new child being born, they will visit the new mother to advise her to take her child to be immunized. They refer sick children to the health centre and encourage parents to take children for treatment swiftly.

CORPS mobilize their communities for Child Health Days where health workers give vaccines, vitamin A, de-worming tablets and weigh children to check they are growing properly. At these child health days CORPs help with weighing and conduct health education using song, drama and puppetry.

The CORPs are a link to the rural villages of Uganda and are a catalyst for change. Many CORPs have now started income generating activities in their communities as a result of their new found confidence and the contacts they have made at their monthly CORP meetings. At these meeting CORPs report on their monthly activities, undergo refresher training and discuss challenges and successes. Many of HCU's 18 CORP groups are now registered as organizations with their local councils.

CORPs are integral to community heath interventions such as child health days and bed net distribution. They will go door to door and use their networks to make sure everyone is informed about the intervention, knows the benefits and is encouraged to participate.

Often CORPs are confronted with a dire situation such as a child who is severly malnourished or who is sick and needs to go to the hospital but can't afford the transportation costs. They will then apporach community leaders and neighbours for help. If all else fails the CORP will pass the word to Healthy Child Uganda staff who can acess an 'At risk' child fund to make sure the child gets the help he or she needs.

Watch the Bushwere CORPS Make Dust Fly: Traditional Dance video clip


Building Capacity at the Government District Health Services

HCU works directly with the District Health Services (DHS) of Mbarara and Bushenyi districts.  The District Health Officers are HCU steering committee members and are regularly apprised of HCU activities.  Some of the ways HCU builds capacity at the DHS level is through:

 

  • Mobilizing community members to attend Government Child Health Days
  • Supporting Health staff in running Government Child Health Days
  • Training health workers on IMCI and Newborn care
  • Training selected health workers (called 'Trainers') how to train & support CORPs
  • Helping the DHS increase use of Child Health Cards by distributing the Cards
  • Holding extra HCU Child Health Days where immunization, Vitamin A distribution and Deworming takes place
  • Improving Health Centre care and facilities through Health Centre Improvement Competitions
  • Painting all Health Centres in HCU areas with Child Friendly Health Education Images
  • Proving equipment such as scales

Without the cooperation and support of the District Health Services, Healthy Child Uganda would be severely limited in its ability to improve child health.  Ultimately HCU aims to improve access to health centres, to encourage parents to take their sick children to the government health centres and to improve the quality of care patients receive by training health workers and improving health centre quality.

 

  Training of Trainers

 

Weighing at a Child Health day