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Fungai Lupande Mash Central Bureau
Community health workers in Mabvurambudzi Village, Ward 8, in Chiweshe area in Mazowe District have assumed the responsibility of nurses in terms of providing healthcare services to children under the age of five.
Under the programme called “My village my home”, the community health workers have been empowered to weigh children, measure their height and keep such records, which are procedures done by nurses when mothers take their children for post-natal care at clinics.
The health workers, including Ms Constance Jarata, the wife to village head Mr Piason Mabvurambudzi, operate from the village head’s homestead and conduct heath education.
The programme, which has been sanctioned by the Ministry of Health and Child Care seeks to lessen the burden on nurses at Nzvimbo Clinic.
It also reduces the distance women in the village have to travel to the clinic, which is almost 4km away.
Mothers in the village are now taking their children to Sabhuku Mabvurambudzi’s homestead, now known as the growth monitoring point, once every month for height and weight measurement.
The programme has seen more villagers taking their children for weighing since the service is being provided by some of their own.
The programme affords villagers an opportunity to organise monthly meetings to discuss other issues and to forge unity in the village.
Ms Jarata says she keeps the records of all the children she attends to and the records are supposed to correspond with those at the clinic.
She said it was critical to measure the child’s height and weight consistently because it helps in investigating malnutrition in children.
“If I suspect that a child is malnourished I refer the mother and child to the clinic for further management,” she said.
Ms Jarata said there were 48 children under the programme and none was malnourished.
“This programme has resulted in all children getting scaled and monitored. Nzvimbo Clinic is 4 kilometres away and the furthest point in the village is 8 kilometres.
“This resulted in mothers failing to consistently take their children to the clinic,” said Ms Jarata.
“Our moto is, ‘together vaccines work’, and we also administer Vitamin A to children, working together with the clinic. We have a MUAC (Mid-Upper Arm Circumference) and a height board that we use to measure and monitor the growth of our children.
“When the mothers come we also take the time to teach them about diet, how to breastfeed and care for new born babies.”
Nutrition ward coordinator Mr Dzikamai Muzawazi said the programme started in 2017 and to date they have witnessed tremendous improvement.
“When mothers come here we also take the opportunity to talk about the importance of planting bio-fortified crops like NUA 45 bean and orange maize in their fields to improve nutritional needs per household,” said Mr Muzawazi.
“The response from the mothers is overwhelming and they don’t miss their appointment dates. No child in the village was referred to the clinic because of malnutrition and this is a great achievement for us.
“Our village health worker is in constant liaison with the clinic, giving them updates on the progress at the village. Nurses at the clinic are now able to concentrate on other tasks.”
Online Reporter