Fundraising campaign provides Ugandan health workers with bicycles to reach more and harder to reach communities
11 September 2017
Village health team members from 43 communities in Iyolwa, a sub-county in eastern Uganda, received brand new bicycles this month thanks to our recent fundraising campaign. Malaria Consortium launched the campaign earlier this year to provide these trained community health workers with a bicycle so that they can reach more people who may need their help.
Our fundraisers raised enough money to buy and deliver 43 bicycles, providing the volunteer community health workers with an invaluable means of transport in places where communities are harder to reach and children, who are particularly vulnerable to life-threatening diseases such as diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia, may require urgent treatment.
The bicycles have increased the number of visits the VHTs can make on an average day. Previously, they would only manage to visit one or two households a day, but now they can easily carry out visits to at least five households and provide lifesaving treatment for malaria and other common childhood illnesses.
Ms Amali Mary, a VHT from Nambogo village, commented on receiving one of the bicycles, “I am so happy! You have given me a brand new bicycle that is strong. It can even carry a pregnant mother! My community is going to be so blessed by it. I will be able to reach people much faster and even go to the far places in my village,” she added.
The VHTs are trained to teach the community about sanitation, to show them how to protect themselves from disease-carrying mosquitoes and to diagnose and treat common childhood illnesses. With these bicycles, the VHTs can now ensure faster and easier access to primary healthcare for their communities.
Malaria Consortium would like to thank all the generous donors to this campaign who made the purchase and delivery of these bicycles possible. They really will help save lives.
A truck carrying 43 donated bicycles arrives at the Malaria Consortium's office in Kampala.
Here, the bicycles are temporarily being stored until transport arrangements have been made.
Once they are cleared, the bicycles are transported to Tororo district in eastern Uganda.
The truck arrives in Iyolwa, Tororo district, where it is welcomed by the Health Centre staff and parked to unload the bicycles.
A curious community member arrives to look at the truck’s contents.
Bicycle repair tool kits and air pumps are the first items to be unloaded.
The last bicycle is unloaded in Iyolwa as the members of villages health teams begin to arrive to collect their new bicycle.
After village health team members register they choose which bicycle they would like.
Ms Amali Mary, village health team member at Nambogo Central is ready to register her name: “I am so happy! You have given me a brand new bicycle that is strong. It can even carry a pregnant mother! My community is going to be so blessed by it, I will be able to reach my clients much faster and even go to the far places in my village.”
Her colleague, Ms Jane Odoi, village health team member at Auyo B Village said, “Thank you so much Malaria Consortium, may God richly bless all the hands that have given to us. These bicycles are really going to make our work easier since we can reach our patients quicker. The bicycles are also of good quality and the spare parts are easily available here. I will keep mine for a very long time to serve my people. Thank you”.
A member of the village health team receives the first bicycle, which is officially presented to him by district leaders.
Mr William Mungoma, District Health Educator representing the District Health Officer: “This bicycle donation to the village health team members (VHTs) in Iyolwa will go a long way in improving the health services delivery in the sub-county and the district as a whole. The VHTs will be able to visit the households in their villages during routine health work and provide us with timely reports. The donation is very much appreciated.”
Village health team member Silver Ochwo sharing a few words to express his gratitude.
Listening to his colleague's speech, Mr Wiberforce Oketch, village health team worker at Nambogo A village, says: “I am also very happy at this time to be a village health team member. It is truly rewarding and gives me pride. I am going to reach my clients faster. I now even have my own transport that I can use to bring a patient to the health centre if I have to.”
Village health team members from 43 communities receive a bicycle.
Achieng Ezeres, village health team member at Ngetta A village, is ready to cycle home: “I am so grateful for the new bicycle, I am going to look after it very well because it makes our lives as village health team members much, much easier.”
After the ceremony, they return to their villages. These new bicycles will allow them to reach more households each day and, therefore, treat more people who have malaria, pneumonia or diarrhoea in the community.
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