Chad: Meet Salima, Community Health Worker
“I’m here to help people. I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ, and he goes out to help people. I thank God for bringing me here.”
These are the words of Salima, a community health worker at the Guinebor 2 Hospital (G2) in Chad. Like many of the staff here, she sees her work as part of her calling to serve her community.
It is a community that’s greatly in need. One in ten children under five will not see their fifth birthday here. But MAI is helping the hospital to work to significantly reduce child malnutrition in the area through education and intervention. We recently spoke to Salima about the part she plays in this vital work.
What does your job involve?
“We have ambassadors in 12 of the villages. I go door to door with the ambassadors to invite the women to come to a meeting and receive information about health. We cover one or maybe two topics each time, such as prevention of malaria, exclusive breastfeeding, avoiding malnutrition, family planning etc.”
How does your faith impact your work?
“I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ and He goes out to help people. I’m here to help people. So I thank God for bringing me here.”
You have been doing this work for four years. What has changed in that time?
“Before, many families were ignorant about how to feed a young child. So, now, with the education they’ve been having, we’re not seeing the same level of malnutrition. Before, each week, we would go to two villages, and we would find five to seven malnourished children. But now, it’s only one or two. It’s a really good change.”
[The team are working to understand this change more fully.]
“We’ve also been instructing new mothers to do six months of exclusive breastfeeding without water. Before, mothers used to think that the child would die if they didn’t give water.”
[Water fills the child’s stomach, but it does not provide nutrition. Breast milk provides vital nutrients and immune support, and is known to reduce an infant’s risk of mortality and morbidity from infectious disease, which is part of why exclusive breastfeeding is so important.]
“One of the ambassadors exclusively breastfed her baby, without giving any water, and the baby did really well. So, when the women in her village saw this, they all said, okay, it works!”
Do you have a message for those who are supporting the work of G2?
“This is the work of God. He calls very special people to help him. Because of your help, the hospital is here working today. Those who don’t have money come, and we help them. God multiplies what you give to him. So we will pray a lot for you.
“We pray every day and God answers our prayers. God has blessed this hospital.”
This interview was included in our latest annual review. You can read our annual review online here, and find more inspiring stories of how our partners are bringing health and hope to those facing their hardest times.
