In rural parts of Kenya, it’s not always easy to find a doctor. Communities in these areas often rely on traditional remedies to treat illnesses because they don’t have easy access to a clinic or hospital where they can get proper care. The Kenyan government’s solution to this problem is enlisting the help of community health workers (CHWs)–the majority of whom are women–whose job it is to travel to areas in need of medical assistance and provide families with the care they need.
Roseline Moenga, a community health worker supported by the Living Goods nonprofit organization, wrote of her experience as a CHW helping families in western Kenya.
Her Story
Moenga started her career as an unpaid CHW employed by the Kenyan government. She received training to treat various medical conditions affecting families in her community. Every day, she would go to people’s homes and provide them with medical care.
“Our communities are rural and have poor infrastructure,” she writes, “so it saves families considerable time and money by having a trusted neighbor like me come right to their homes.” In her role as a CHW, Moenga felt empowered as a woman, knowing she was able to provide lifesaving care and knowledge to her community.
Moenga joined the nonprofit organization Living Goods, which helps provide community health workers with the technology, training, and monetary compensation they don’t receive from the Kenyan government. Living Goods gave her a supply of medicine and a smartphone, preloaded with two applications: A diagnostic tool developed by mHealth (a Kenyan software company) and an app developed by Living Goods themselves called Smart Health, which helps refer patients in need to clinics where they can receive specialized care.
In the field, Moenga–along with 120 other CHWs–educated new mothers about how to care for their babies and spot the warning signs of illness. In addition, she made sure the children in her community were up-to-date on their vaccinations.
“Through all of this amazing work, I also receive ongoing training and supervision,” Moenga writes. “On top of that, I earn some money that motivates me, by meeting performance-based targets around how many mothers and children I support.”
Moenga, armed with her stock of medicine and smartphone, was able to treat a number of potentially deadly childhood illnesses like pneumonia, malaria, and diarrhea. When she came across a child who needed a type of treatment she was unable to provide, Moenga referred them to a local clinic using the Smart Health app on her smartphone.
“Through this experience, I’ve learned that community health programs strengthened by digital health tools are a powerful engine for women’s empowerment,” she writes. “I’m proud to be a CHW and to serve my community.”
Written by Natan Rosenfeld
