Action For Health : Empowering Communities in Mali

Back in May, we shared the experience of Kadidiatou, one of our community health worker leaders, as she was working hard to keep both the families she serves as a CHW and her own family safe from COVID-19. As a CHW and supervisor for the other Mali Health CHWs serving Lafiabougou, Kadidiatou always knows what is happening in her community.

Kadidiatou is proud to share that Awa, the mother she told us was very reticent about going to the health center, did find her way back there, as did almost all of the families in Lafiabougou who had stopped seeking care due to rumors and concerns about COVID-19. After Kadidiatou talked Awa through her concerns and let her know that the visits would be safe, Awa returned to the health center for her prenatal care, and gave birth in August without any trouble.

You may also remember that Kadidiatou had a niece who was infected with the coronavirus, which was a scary time for her family. Her niece recovered, and Kadidiatou went to see her in June to hear about her experience, which encouraged her to work harder to prevent others from going through the same thing.

Kadidiatou reports that she has been able to share the messages of preventing COVID-19 more widely. She has been able to convince her neighbors to adopt prevention measures, including installing hand washing kits at the entry of their homes. She reports that more people in her community are limiting their movements and wearing masks regularly.

She also noted that the training that Mali Health was able to do with community leaders about how to combat misinformation and to encourage preventive measures and behaviors made a noticeable difference in improving the knowledge and awareness of members of her community. She feels that today, her community is prepared and strong enough to avoid COVID-19 and to stay safe.

Thank you so much for your support to help Kadidiatou and other community health workers keep their communities safe during COVID-19!