By Davis Nordeen | Resource Development Assistant
International Medical Corps proposed a project to enable members of our existing Community Health Clubs in Zimbabwe to produce and sell affordable reusable sanitary pads, improving hygiene in the community and providing increased financial security to the club and its members. Unfortunately, we have only raised 60% of what we needed for this initiative over eight months and have decided to cancel the project.
We are continuing our important community-level work in Zimbabwe, and the funds we have raised through GlobalGiving will be directed there.
To continue supporting International Medical Corps’ emergency efforts, please visit “A Healthier Future for South Sudan’s Families” project, where our teams are responding to the emergency levels of hunger.
https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/a-healthier-future-for-families-in-south-sudan/
“Every time I would see the Village Health Worker coming to my homestead, I would lock myself up,” Linda told us reluctantly, now a proud member of the Thuthuka Community Health Club in Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe. Linda, like many other health club members, was first skeptical of the presence of our health workers promoting hygiene in her village. Today, she is wishing for more home visits and further training on health and sanitation issues so that her wider community may benefit from the knowledge the Thuthuka Community Health Club has taught her. As to Linda locking the door when health workers visit, she adds, “it’s a thing of the past now.”
International Corps runs more than 300 Community Health Clubs across Zimbabwe with the vision of building resilience through participatory health and hygiene activities. Made up of both men and women, the clubs empower members to make hygiene improvements and teach proper sanitation practices within their own homes and communities. Clubs meet regularly under the mentorship of a trained Community-based Facilitator and use the knowledge they learn to construct latrines, pot racks, kitchen cupboards, gardens, fences, waste dig pits and hand-washing stations.
“My family was constantly falling prey to scabies and we did not have any idea why this was so,” Margaret recalled of her life before joining the Thuthuka Health Club. She confessed the village did not have any appreciation of hygiene issues before the health club began and illnesses such as diarrhea, scabies, and ringworms ran rampant in the community. While these issues still remain, Linda, Margaret and the rest of the Thuthuka Health Club have been proactive and passionate about changing the hygiene standards in their rural village.
With training from our health workers, the group’s 25 women and five men have completed every lesson within the health club’s curriculum so far, building pot racks, kitchen cupboards, and waste dig pits for every member. The club also established a pooled fund, charging $2.00 a month to members and making loans with 20% interest to generate income for construction materials like cement for latrines. With the funds to date, the club has successfully constructed one latrine and built fencing for each member’s household using locally available resources.
Because of the group’s dedication and progress, village leaders have started to allow club members to lead hygiene awareness activities during community gatherings through lessons, drama, song and dance. The Thuthuka Health Club and International Medical Corps are carrying this momentum forward together, continuing to raise awareness about positive hygiene practices to reduce illness and save lives.
We would like to thank the GlobalGiving family for their support as we addressed the health and hygiene needs of communities in rural Zimbabwe. International Medical Corps continues to serve vulnerable populations and provide healthcare in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia and thanks Globalgiving for their ongoing support of our projects.
By Daniel Browne | Fundraising Officer
By Daniel Browne | Fundraising Officer
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