2011: Millions more healthy and happy children!

You are a real lifesaver. Together, we have helped frontline health workers reach more children every day and provide the care children need to get well and stay healthy.   As we move toward 2012, we wanted to share with you some of the successes that took place on the ground this year.  With your support, we can continue to provide this lifesaving care to the children who need it most.

In May, local health worker Afia Afroze of Bangladesh blogged about how her training and commitment made all the difference for two families in her community.

“I went to all of my beneficiaries’ houses to invite them to the growth monitoring and promotion session. In that session, I found two babies were suffering from pneumonia. I counseled the mothers to take extra good care of their babies, keep them warm, clean and feed them nutritious food. I gave them cotrim syrup [an antibiotic] and advised them to continue the syrup for five days. I told them, if they notice any danger signs, they should let me know right away. Although it was a weekend, I did not want to take a chance that the mothers would not come to me if they needed me, so I went back to the houses for follow up visits. Fortunately, both children were doing better. I hope soon they will be completely well.

In November, a short update from frontline health worker Salif Diarra of Mali showed how the trust families put in health workers who are also their neighbors can really pay off.

“Bawassa is a pretty, 2-year-old girl from my village. She started having diarrhea at night time and her mother brought her to see me the next morning. It was good that her parents knew to take immediate action when their daughter was sick. Too often, parents wait to seek care, and their children get worse. When they come to me early, I can help prevent the child from suffering too much, and sometimes I even prevent them from dying. Bawassa did not look good when she came to me. Her eyes were sunken from dehydration. I gave her oral rehydration solution and 10 zinc tablets. By the evening, her diarrhea had stopped, and within a few days she was totally cured.”

Frontline health workers are also trained to refer mothers and children to a clinic or hospital when that is the best choice.  In communities like health worker Madalitso Masa’s village in Malawi, that calls for changing attitudes about where it’s best and safest to give birth.  In October, Madalitso told us how counseling mother-to-be Fiona and her family had a real impact.

“During the last visit, we talked about preparing for the birth. I told her that she needed to have her bags packed and if possible she should go to the district hospital to wait for her delivery at least three weeks before her due date.

In the afternoon on August 12th, she went into labor while she was still at home and everybody panicked. They came to my house to ask for help. I advised them to take her to the local shelter that we use as a clinic while I called the district hospital for an ambulance. Luckily, after a few hours, the ambulance arrived to pick her up. Her baby Emma was born in the early hours of August 13th at Dowa District Hospital.”

That’s just a sampling of the inspiring work health workers Afia, Salif, and Madalitso and thousands like them made possible in 2011. 

The new year is sure to bring many more successes.  We hope you will visit us regularly to hear about the impact that health workers, and YOU, are having on the lives of mothers and children around the globe.

Have a joyous holiday season.