On May 26, twenty-eight of Yirimadjo's brightest and bravest women made their way into Yirimadjo's Women's Center for the first day of Community Health Worker training.  Their excitement was evident even before training began: several women were already gathered outside, having arrived half an hour early.   Some were holding or nursing babies as they waited.  A man pulled up on his motorcycle with his wife, dropped her off and waved as he drove away.  

 

Inside, Project Muso Coordinator Dr. Ichiaka Koné set the tone by leading a moving discussion of health as a human right, a concept the women immediately embraced.  When Chaka asked them who in the world had the right to health, they responded as one, without a moment's hesitation: health belonged to the poor, who had no money to pay, as well as to the rich.  "We are all the same!" they declared.

 

Since then, the group has convened daily for four-hour sessions on topics ranging from the biology of malaria to problem-solving skills. Each session has brought with it important discussions and new discoveries. During the malaria epidemiology lesson, participants learned about regions of the world that were previously malaria endemic and no longer are—they began to envision together the possibility of rolling malaria out of Yirimadjo. 

 

When their training ends and Project Muso's Community-Based Malaria Prevention Program launches on July 13, they will be inducted as Community Health Workers.  In their respective coverage areas, they will be responsible for finding and addressing cases of malaria and illness and working with the most vulnerable to knock out barriers to care.  These women will be the legs, arms, and voice of the healthcare system in Yirimadjo, to keep it moving and dynamic.  They will serve an indispensable role in facilitating the universal right to health they so vocally supported on that first day of class.

 

The Community Health Worker curriculum includes:

 

Best of luck to our new Community Health Workers as they finish training!