By Steve Chirombo
Chikwawa, December 1, Mana: Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) has embarked on door to door interventions in the area of Senior Chief Chapananga in Chikwawa as one way of instilling behavior change and equipping households with knowledge on various diseases that communities face.
The organization’s Program Coordinator, under Community Resilient Project (COMREP), Leonard Maganga said on Wednesday during a visit to some households in Senior Chief Chapananga that their 2016 assessment revealed that most community members in the area lacked health hygiene tips hence the door to door visit.
Maganga said the four year project, which is in its third year, had seen tremendous improvements and good results.
“Right now we are strategizing on how we can sustainably exit these communities. That is why we went around to see how communities have adapted in terms of water, sanitation and hygiene.
“And hearing from them, as well as from the midterm assessment on health, they now know how to manage community health talks for common diseases such as malaria,” he said.
He further said communities under Chapananga were testifying to the reduced cases of death due to malaria especially in babies.
Group Village Headman Zuze expressed gratitude for the initiative saying the project had helped his area improve on health further calling MRCS to extend the project to other areas.
“Before the project, we only had a few toilets. Even using mosquito nets was a challenge amongst community members but that is history now as most developments have been achieved on the same,” he said
One of the beneficiaries, Wetson Dinala, demonstrated satisfaction towards the project saying he now takes care of his family and is able to prevent various diseases that come due to lack of hygiene.
Apart from equipping the communities with health tips, MRCS is also providing education support to 300 students; 200 from primary schools and 100 from secondary schools in the district under the same project.
The project is being implemented in three districts of Chikwawa, Mwanza and Mangochi.
