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Community Health Training in Suswa!


Submitted by Kenyan CTC Staff on Mon, 2011-07-25 00:00

Greetings from the CTC family in Kenya!

This week we bring news on the fantastic community health training program that we had in Suswa, one of Maai Mahiu’s project sites. On the 20th and 21st of July, CTC/Volunteer staff trained 22 participants from the Maasai community in Suswa in the Community Health Work curriculum under the National Aids Control Council Department in Kenya. This was the first ever training conducted on Community Health Work and what makes it even more outstanding is the fact that we had more male participants than female! It was very encouraging to see men take responsibility for the  health of their community. 

Suswa is a marginalized community with meager resources. Many who live in Suswa have not gone further than their primary education. HIV/AIDS is also seldom discussed in Suswa and female members of the community are often silenced when it comes to such matters. Polygamy is practiced among many members of the Suswa community which, coupled with lack of information and education, has strengthened the spread of HIV/AIDS. These circumstances have made it all the more difficult to reach the community with services of ART (Anti-Retroviral Therapy).

Some of the topics that the participants tackled were:

  1. Introduction to Community Health Work, Roles and Responsibilities
  2. Behavior Change Communication Strategy
  3. Communication Skills
  4. Home Based Care and Psychosocial support
  5. Stigma and Discrimination
  6. Positive Living 
  7. Tuberculosis
  8. Human Rights
  9. Adherence to ARVs (Anti- Retroviral drugs)
  10. VCT(Voluntary Counseling and Testing)and Opportunistic Infections

 

All participants were certified after the training with Community Health Work Level One.

The training was truly an eye opener for the community that has had little exposure to matters regarding HIV/AIDS in the past. It was a wonderful experience to see knowledge and empowerment in action. As we expand our horizons with new opportunities for training, we have the privilege of witnessing our mission statement being lived out:  Providing hope through relationships and using a holistic approach to community development, CTC is empowering our world!

Thank you,

Rebecca Daniel, Education Director