What Is HCU?
“There are many changes that are good in my community, like lower child mortality, less disease, immunization, good nutrition for our children.” — Community health worker for Healthy Child Uganda
Healthy Child Uganda (HCU) is a partnership between Ugandan and Canadian universities with active participation by local Ugandan communities. The Ugandan partners are Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), Mbarara and Bushenyi Health Districts; the Canadian partners are the University of Calgary, Dalhousie University, and the Canadian Paediatric Society. These groups share a common goal of improving child health in rural southwestern Uganda.
HCU develops and evaluates programs and provides training so Ugandan health care staff, community health workers, and parents themselves are better able to prevent child deaths and keep their children healthy.
How did HCU start?
Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) first developed relationships with local communities when it opened in 1989. Ten years later, Canadian paediatricians began visiting MUST to support training of medical students at the university. In 2002, faculty members from MUST approached the Canadian doctors with an idea to start a training program for volunteer community health workers.
HCU was born
Ugandans envisioned the “Community Health Worker” model and made it happen with technical support from Canadian doctors and funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). This Ugandan-Canadian partnership was formalized, and training began in 2004 at MUST, at health centres, and in the community.
| Community Health Workers (known locally as Community-Owned Resource Persons, or “CORPs”) are volunteers who are selected by the people they live among and then trained in health promotion. |
Where Does HCU Operate?
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. Click on the following maps to see where HCU communities can be found: