Health Worker
$40.00
Simple messages for good health. Community health workers are trained to provide health information and promote good health practices in their communities. Things as simple as teaching others to wash hands more frequently can help fight common but serious diseases like diarrhoea.
Gifts and donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.
Should the number of items sold or the funds raised exceed the amount needed for the projects these gifts are intended to fund, TEAR Australia will redirect donations to similar development work.
Elina (pictured, left) is an Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) who works in a sub-health post/birthing centre in the low-caste community of Pipaltar in Dhading, Nepal. Here, she is teaching a woman at the health centre about proper nutrition during pregnancy.
Health facilities are scarce in remote villages like Pipaltar. The lack of adequate support for pregnant women is one of the key reasons for high rates of maternal and infant death. Most mothers have their babies at home, with help from their mother-in-law or another older woman. If there is difficulty during childbirth, or the woman continues to bleed afterwards, there is little that can be done to save her.
TEAR partner United Mission to Nepal (UMN) is working to improve access to basic health care facilities in areas like Pipaltar. Through a partnership with JCDS, a local development group, and the local District Health Office, UMN was able to establish a 24-hour Birthing Centre. This was a long process, involving a great deal of advocacy to local authorities, communicating the importance of providing the care women should be entitled to.
Before UMN worked with the local District Health Office to develop this centre, women rarely came to a health centre for prenatal check-ups, or to deliver their babies. Elina is the first full-time trained midwife working here. JCDS has also been working to encourage the community to use the health facility, and pointing out how important regular visits are for expectant mothers.
Another initiative that has helped is that a flag is hung outside the house where an expectant mother lives. This helps Elina and her colleagues to identify homes for visits and counselling. Elina says: “There have been 28 deliveries so far, and all have gone well. The community still needs much education on family planning, but it has improved a lot in the last year.”
About our partner – United Mission to Nepal (UMN)
UMN works towards “Fullness of life for all, in a transformed Nepali society”. Established in 1954, UMN is a cooperative effort between the people of Nepal and a large number of Christian organisations from nearly 20 countries on four continents. Multicultural teams of Nepali nationals and volunteer expatriate staff work alongside local organisations in less developed areas of the country, building partnerships that lead to healthy, strong and empowered individuals, families, and communities.
