Addressing Community Health Issues in Chimbamba, Malawi

Thomas Ofem, University of Liverpool Online MPH student

MPH PHOTO JOURNAL“Shaping Healthy Communities”

Learn more about our online degrees at http://www.university-liverpool-online.com/

I visited Chimbamba village- a rural community about 40 kilometers from Lilongwe, the Malawian capital, with a colleague. The moment I saw the children playing around in the dust, and the women going about their chores, with stress written all over them, something broke inside me. I left with only one thought: How can I be useful to this community?

Assessing needs and community resources-1

On my second visit, my friend and I sat with the women of Chimbamba and together explored what their key problems are. I am currently undertaking the MPH module on Qualitative Research in Public Health and the section on community participatory research comes in very handy. The women know their problems.

Assessing needs and community resources-2

I learn from the women that none of the problems and issues we have discussed can be addressed without the full support and cooperation of their husbands and other men in the community. So I visit the Chief of the village and with his help my colleague and I conducted another focus group discussion with a sample of men from Chimbamba.

Community priorities

Both men and women of Chimbamba are in agreement on their problems and issues: the community borehole (the only clean water supply system) has broken down for two years now- the nearby dam is the only source of water now and it is shared with their livestock and farm animals.

Broken-down borehole

The children get sick frequently from Cholera and Malaria, and the women spend so much time fetching water from the dam- a 30 minute walk each time they need water.

Efforts to address priority problems and issues-1

Using some community members and health assistants from the nearby primary health care facility, misconceptions about sleeping under insecticide treated nets were addressed through community theatre. Some households have at least one net from the Government’s free net distribution program, but others do not have. An insecticide treated net in Malawi costs an average of $10- total monthly income for some households

Efforts to address priority problems and issues-2

The villagers now know that the rampant cases of Cholera and other diseases in the community are due to the lack of clean drinking water. While boiling water from the dam and allowing it to cool before using is an option, the best option is to repair the borehole through community efforts.

Community self-help: raising funds to repair borehole

Efforts to address priority problems and issues-3

Health education sessions using focus groups provides a platform for sharing new information and answering community members questions regarding family planning, maternal and child health, nutrition, malaria and other health problems. Community members, especially women attend these sessions and have a lot of questions.

Next steps

There is so much that can be achieved in this community with little resources. I will like to see every woman who delivers a baby at the local health facility get a long lasting insecticide treated net. But then, the number one priority of this community is to repair their broken down source of clean water.