Positive Aid recently supported an expedition to the offices of NGO ‘Management Sciences for Health’, in Kakamega, Western Kenya. They are doing some great work in Maternal and Child Health and we took the opportunity to connect – sharing experiences and the lessons learned in best practices are invaluable in the NGO world, as they help to boost all organisations’ work for the benefit of the people they serve. We sponsored our two Maternal and Child Health officers Connie and Hellen, along with three of our local management, Mordecai, Martin and Peter to take part. The trip gave them the chance to discover and be motivated to continue striving in their activities. In response to what was shared, we plan to produce some new picture-based materials to use in empowering pregnant women in our project throughout Uranga and Boro.

‘Jiggers’ (tunga penetrans) are a kind of flea common to Central and South America as well as Sub-Saharan Africa. They commonly infect the soles of peoples’ feet in our project area, where animals can live in close quarters to villagers – jiggers can cause terrible discomfort and affect people’s ability to go about their daily work and lives. Unsafe village practices of removing the jiggers without proper sterilization also pose serious risks of infection. Positive Aid supported Boro Project Manager Peter, to lead a jigger campaign in his Division. With the help of our Boro Community Health Workers, Peter mobilised a large part of the population including Chiefs and other key leaders. The aim was to treat local kids and adults who were infected with jiggers, and also teach people about how to avoid infection in future. The day was a great success and we congratulate Peter and the Health Workers for their efforts in helping their community.

Boro Manager Peter's (very) well-loved laptop is nearing the end of its long life and we’re inviting anyone who has a reliable second hand one sitting around, to donate it. Peter was trained as a Community Health Worker to help people with HIV/AIDS through the support of Positive Aid. He was later promoted to a Field Officer, and then Manager – he currently oversees project activities throughout Boro Division and does a great job. Peter began with basic IT skills, and we recently sponsored him to undertake a computer course to further build his capacity. Positive Aid plans to send representatives to our project in April/May this year, and they would be able to transport a donated laptop safely to the Boro office door. Please contact Jess Alvarez for more information

Peter, our Manager in Boro, is soon to be trained in Home-Based Counselling and Testing (HBCT) of people for HIV. To date, Project Manager Mordecai has provided all of the testing and counselling in our project, however new activities are increasingly demanding his time and Peter has shown enthusiasm and commitment to the idea of adding counselling to his role. He is particularly familiar with Boro Division where he’s worked for years now, and understands the important role HBCT plays in helping people with HIV get treatment. We wish him the best for a successful training and experience in his new responsibilities.

Our Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Officer Connie is a local woman from Uranga. She is passionate about helping women and children, and has four kids herself. Starting out as a community health worker in our project ten years ago, Connie quickly displayed great leadership qualities, eye for detail and a drive to make positive change. In 2012 when we introduced our MCH program, we naturally put Connie in charge of activities. Since then she has worked tirelessly with children, parents and carers, pregnant women and new mothers – facilitating small and large groups, connecting people in health care settings, visiting needy clients at home, and reporting on the successes and challenges in the field. We have supported Connie through several trainings to build her capacity and confidence in her role, including sending her to Uganda for a specialised course, and more recently to Kisumu for training by the Kenyan Ministry of Health. Thanks to our project and Connie’s dedication, hundreds of women have given birth safely in health facilities, and countless babies have been able to thrive.