Village health club becomes successful cooperative
When local chief Benon Baligomwa talks about the village health club his eyes fill with pride. “I am very happy and proud of what we accomplished. This club has brought unity to our village. People with different ideas and backgrounds come together and they all learn from each other.”
The village health club in Kyarujumba in mid-western Uganda, which started in 2012 under Malaria Consortium’s inSCALE project, has turned into a successful self-sustaining cooperative. “We added a savings component to the club,” Benon said. “Every villager who wants to become a member now pays a membership fee. We are ever growing and receive more and more members because everyone wants to join.”
The club is an excellent platform to reach community members. Initially set up to discuss health related problems such as malaria, they now also meet about other issues that affect the community, from school enrolment to sanitation.
Village health team member Joseph Alinaitwe leads the meetings. He is one of the volunteers who have been trained by Malaria Consortium to diagnose and treat the most common but deadly childhood illnesses like malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia. This approach is called integrated community case management, or iCCM, and is supported by Uganda’s National Malaria Control Programme. Joseph has also been trained to conduct engaging conversations at the club with the help of easy to understand flipcharts. Local politicians now come to Joseph to raise a particular topic in the village health club meeting and connect with their citizens.
Joseph always wanted to become a doctor and feels that thanks to his training, and supervision by health facility staff, he is fulfilling his dream in a way. “Malaria Consortium has done a lot for my community. They provided the necessary drugs, skills and training. I now know three times more than when I was a farmer,” he explained.
USAID’s Malaria Action Program for Districts, led by Malaria Consortium, is building on the organisation’s achievements. When district leaders came to Kyarujumba village to select a key influencer for the programme, they identified Joseph as the ideal candidate. He passed a range of interviews and eventually landed this important role. The programme is planning to roll out the key influencer approach in other districts, to keep a good practice alive as well as expanding its reach.
Joseph’s community members recognise the value of his role. He receives money from the club to pay for fuel for his motorbike, for instance when a rise in disease occurs. This allows him to reach the health facility to pick up drugs and reach the most remote community members, treat and refer patients as well as prevent a possible outbreak. The parish even donated a loudspeaker.
On our way out of the village, village chief Benon and Joseph walk us to a special place. “We used the savings from the village health club to buy a plot of land,” they told me. It will serve a very specific purpose. “We are now saving money, so that we can construct our own village health facility soon.”
