A Day in the Life of a Community Volunteer in Malawi

Saidi Nakhumwa is 47 years old. He lives near Mulanje and serves as a volunteer at the Matipwiri Community Sputum Collection Point site where he carefully collects sputum samples from people who might have TB in surrounding villages and delivers the samples to a TB microscopy laboratory site for testing.

Without a car, or even a bike for transportation, it takes him all day to walk the samples to the nearest TB laboratory and return home. Rodrick Nalikungwi, Project HOPE 's TB Program Manager in Malawi asked Saidi to describe his work as a TB volunteer. Here are Saidi's words:

“I wake up at 5:00 a.m. when it’s my turn to man the Community Sputum Collection Point. It takes me 30 minutes to walk to the Collection Point so I leave home at 6:30 a.m. While at the Collection Point, I wait for other volunteers from 10 other villages to bring sputum samples. I record what I receive in the registers and label the samples. At 10:00 a.m. it is time to take the collected sputum bottles to Chonde Health Center. I walk with another community volunteer and we arrive there around 1:30 p.m.

I hand over all the sputum samples to the Health Surveillance Assistant microscopist at the health centre and sign for what I have given in. Then we start walking back home. Usually we buy sugar cane to suck as we walk back home.

I love serving the community but walking on an empty stomach especially during this lean period, makes me feel tired when I arrive home.”

Later, Rodrick said that Saidi borrowed a bicycle and tied his sputum sample transportation box to the bike. "This is what would help us very much, " Saidi said, while doing a demonstration ride.

Volunteers like Saidi are the cornerstone of Project HOPE’s TB management and treatment programs in Malawi. Can you help? DONATE NOW to help provide bicycle transportation for community volunteers in Malawi.

Check out the Update on Bikes for Malawi Campaign Posted August 25, 2010

Distribution of Mosquito Nets and Certeza to Children in Mozambique

As part of Project HOPE's work with Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC), we established a relationship with Population Services International (PSI) – another leading international health NGO that works in the country. Through our relationship with PSI we were able to procure Mosquito nets and bottles of Certeza which purifies unclean water and distribute these to the OVC in our program. One of the leading causes of death in the country of young children is Malaria and waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea.



An example of this occurred last week when working through our network of partners, over 250 nets and bottles of Certeza were given out to children that live in Namuniho which is on the outskirts of Quelimane in Zambezia Province. The children attend a school set up to provide education to 5-15 year olds that have fallen through cracks in the education system and are playing catch up with their more advantaged peers.

Present at the handover ceremony was a representative from the Provincial Ministry of Health who spoke about the importance on using the nets and how to use Certeza.

Thanks to PSI and generous donors like you, these children are now able to drink safe water, and sleep under a net that will help protect them from getting malaria.

Thanks for Reading
-Stefan

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With a Little HOPE, VSL Group Thrives

In Zambezia Province of Mozambique, Project HOPE has been running the savings and loans mobilisation program for quite a while. Over the life of the project we have had over 300 groups that have been formed and trained in the methodology.

One of these groups is called “Esperança” which means “Hope” in Portuguese. This group is based on the outskirts of Mocuba and they have been with Project HOPE since almost the beginning of the project, but now function very independently. To date they are continuing to save money on a regular basis and give out loans to members of the group. As a result of working with us, they decided to form an “association” which is a legally registered body of people with the government that has a constitution and board. By doing this they are better able to access help from other NGOs and even government funds.

Each of the members of the group owns at least 1 hectare of land on which they produce corn, peanuts and other vegetables. The group’s idea was to try to access markets in Mocuba and sell surplus product there, thus generating income. One of the biggest challenges to this is knowing what to do with the food once it is harvested, and so the group had the idea of together building a storehouse where produce could be stored in a safe location until either they could arrange transport to get the produce to town, or even better, have a buyer come and pick it up from them.

To help them in time for this current harvest season, Project HOPE, through its generous donors was able to supplement what the group had already saved up and donated $800.00 to complete the construction of this storehouse.

Thanks for Reading
-Stefan

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New Village Savings and Loans Program for Mozambique

Gaza Province, Mozambique

In January, I was able to travel to Xai Xai which is the Provincial capital of Gaza Province in Mozambique to our office there and train some of our staff on Village Savings and Loans (VSL)methodology. Project HOPE has been working in four districts there– Xai Xai, Chibuto, Chokwe and Guija through our USAID funded Orphans and Vulnerable Children(OVC) program where we have formed groups of OVC caregivers and given out loans (microcredit) to help them set up small businesses, expand existing ones etc. We combine these loan programs with health education.

What we are doing now, is using a different type of economic strengthening approach called savings and loans mobilisation, where groups of OVC caregivers are formed and they save their own money, which becomes a “loan fund” from which members of the group can apply for a small loan repayable back with interest to the group. This is also combined with comprehensive health education, covering topics such as HIV prevention, care and treatment, TB, Malaria, hygiene and sanitation, nutrition, legal rights of a child etc. Groups meet on a weekly basis and essentially support and encourage each other.

These two types of economic strengthening activities will then be compared to see which is more sustainable and effective in the longer-term.

We trained 11 promoters throughout the week on VSL methodology, how to teach health education and the importance of monitoring and evaluation, specifically how to conduct the crucial surveys that we do to measure the success of our project. We also included training on the history and work of Project HOPE around the world.

For me it was a good opportunity to get to know the staff better, try to understand some of the issues that they face in working in these difficult environments, and then try together to help problem solve. This was the first time that I have taught in Portuguese for about four years so each night I was exhausted, but the group told me I was understandable so that was good!

Xai Xai is also known for its beautiful beach, so after each day’s lessons we were all able to relax and enjoy each other’s company on the beach or watching the “Mambas” – Mozambique’s national soccer team play in the African Cup of Nations that was taking place then!

I am confident that over the next 6 months as this project gets up and running it will make a substantial difference in the people’s lives in the districts where we work. Check back to hear about how its going and to read some interviews from the participants.

Thanks for Reading
-Stefan

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Welcome to Project HOPE Mozambique

Project HOPE’s history in Mozambique, explaining more about our current programs that we are running, our dreams and visions for the future, and ways in which you can personally get involved. Let me start with a brief introduction:

Project HOPE first established its presence in Mozambique in 1997. Our head office is situated in the capital city, Maputo, and we have offices in Gaza Province in the south of the country and Zambezia Province in the North. We are currently working in 8 different districts in the two Provinces and have a total staff of 44 persons, of which 42 are of Mozambican nationality.

Over the past 13 years, Project HOPE has been involved in a number of projects from Maternal and Child Health programs, to Workplace HIV Prevention policy formation, to the installation of short wave radio systems in remote health posts aiming to reduce mortality rates through better communication, to Youth HIV Prevention and Economic Strengthening programs. In 2001 the Southern part of the country was extensively damaged during massive floods, to which Project HOPE responded and through generous donors was able to send $5 million of pharmaceutical and medical supplies to help in the relief efforts.

Currently Project HOPE is undertaking a 5 year USAID funded Orphan and Vulnerable Children’s Program to strengthen families who care for OVC through economic strengthening and health education activities (more to follow in future blogs.)

What does the future hold for Project HOPE here in Mozambique? As a well recognized Public Health NGO, the future looks bright. We have dreams to expand our programmatic focus into a number of new areas, drawing on experience from the Project HOPE worldwide family, as well as breaking ground into new Provinces and Districts where there is still great need in partnership with local and international NGOs as well as with the strong support of the Mozambican government.

Keep checking back for further updates!

-Stefan

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Combining South Africa, Mozambique and More Into One Blog

Stefan Lawson is currently serving as both Project HOPE's Country Director for South Africa and Interim Country Director for Mozambique. You can follow his his experiences in both countries with his new blog, Project HOPE in Africa.

Check back tomorrow for an update from Mozambique!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Project HOPE South Africa

2009 has been a successful year for Project HOPE in South Africa. Our Village Saving Fund (VSF) program closed out successfully benefiting almost 300 orphans and vulnerable children(OVC) in the process and helping many caregivers overcome problems that they were facing.


An example of this is a thank you letter that Project HOPE received from one of the participants:

“My name is Dipuo Schalkwyk. I am 50 years old. I stay with my two daughters and 2 grandchildren. I joined the VSF group in May 2009. When I joined, life was very tough because there was no one working at home. I used to go to the Catholic Church every morning to get some food. Some of the days I used to come back home empty handed because there was no food. I tried to apply for the government grant and they told me to wait until I’m 60 years. My daughters have been trying to look for jobs for many years and till today they are still at home. My two grandchildren do get their child support grant but it is not enough. This money is supposed to take the kids to the crèche and feed them. Because there was no income in the house, we used to buy food with it and the children did not go to school. I was hesitating to join the VSF because I didn’t know what it was and how it could help me. Project HOPE staff asked me to give it a try and see the result after six months. Two months after I joined, I borrowed R200.00 and we bought twenty litres of paraffin. My daughters sold that paraffin in a week and it was finished. We bought a further 20 litres for four weeks and the response was positive, we decided to borrow R600.00 to add to what we had and we bought 100l of paraffin. Today I am not depending on someone to give me handouts. I don’t waste my time by going to church and wait for something that I am not sure whether I will get it or not. Since joining the VSF a number of positive changes have occurred: 1) My health has improved and my BP is down to normal again - my secret is eating healthy and not stressing anymore. 2) We eat vegetables every day and meat at least twice a week. 3) For the first time I have a savings account. 4) I am part of the Project HOPE food gardening program where I have been given land and seeds and am growing a variety of fruits and vegetables.”

The Social Fund, which is a form of group insurance used by members of the group in times of emergencies was recently used to allow a participant to travel back home to attend the funeral of his father and see his family for the first time in 18 years! He is one of our male participants in our men’s VSF group:

“I was born in North West Province. When I came here (West Rand), I worked for the mines. When the mines retrenched us, I did not go back home because I was hoping to find another job. Unfortunately it did not happen like that. I am staying alone in a one room shack. The last time I saw my family it was 18 years ago. I did not have money to go there. I joined this Village Savings Fund in May. I did not know what it was. At first I thought it was a woman thing. After I attended a few meetings and got some training, I began to understand it. I started to save a little money every week. I am not working and my family is in North West Province. In September this year, somebody told me that my dad had passed away; I did not know how I was going to bury my dad. I told some of the men in my group about my problem, they told me that I qualified to be given money for the transport to go and bury my dad. I was so excited when I received this R200.00 to go home. Everybody was excited to see me after so many years. Thank you Project HOPE for making this possible.”

As you can hopefully see through these couple of testimonies, it doesn’t take much to make a huge difference in people’s lives here in South Africa.

Our team here, myself included, thanks you for your generous support of our program here, and wishes you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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