In celebration of World Health Day 2018, Nuru International thanks our staff who are working tirelessly in Kenya and Ethiopia to help bring #HealthForAll to rural farming communities. These community led initiatives work with the current health system and engage the community to improve maternal and child health. From Nuru Kenya farmer cooperative health volunteer leaders displaying certificates of completion after their initial healthcare training, to new mothers who are learning how to care for their newborns, each and every one of our staff is doing their part to improve health for all. Below are a few examples of some of the work being done by the Nuru Healthcare teams.
Nuru Ethiopia and the Ethiopian government health facilities are working together with communities to make maternal waiting homes available for mothers who have transportation challenges or complicated pregnancies so that they can be close to a skilled birth attendant at the time of delivery. Alashe Dola Gatiso is one of the women who recently benefited from a new maternal waiting home. She also received trainings on postnatal care, immediate breast feeding, vaccinations, and family planning while waiting there for her baby to enter the world. When asked about her feelings and perceptions of the maternal and child health (MCH) services and trainings, she said that she feels they are very important and can help to save her life as well as her baby’s.
The Nuru Kenya Healthcare program is working closely with government health facilities to ensure improved maternal and child health to all community members. An outreach to the community can take shape as a group discussion like the one pictured above in Migori County. The purpose of this meeting was to explore barriers to appropriate complementary feeding among expectant and new mothers.
Nuru Ethiopia’s Healthcare Program is working with mothers of young children to provide practical and economical hands on demonstrations of Essential Nutrition in Action (ENA) in rural Ethiopian communities. After attending the training, Abayenesh Buke, a mother of seven, said “I now have the courage to practice what I learned. I was lucky to be able to use the information without any delay. I have found that the practice is simple and has no cost and it was very nice to get the impact immediately. I will try my best to disseminate the information to the people I know, including my friends, families and neighbors.”
Nuru celebrates these stories of improving healthcare and we are grateful for the to be a part of the greater story of service so many around the world are providing to make health for all a reality for their communities.