By Hope Okeny | Project Leader
Every mother wants healthy children.
And in the early days of a child’s life, parents and doctors understandably focus on how the baby’s physical development—is she gaining weight? Is he developing reflexes? Are they hitting all of the milestones of a healthy and thriving child?
Lanyero smiles as she watches her 8 months old baby, Opio play with a toy. He has been very ill, but the treatment that she has received from the clinic is making him better each day. The doctor has just checked on him and is happy with the progress of recovery. And Lanyero is happy with the progress too. The other mother smiles with her.
The mothers are happy with the service provided for their children. Ensuring the well being of mothers and children during and after illness is a priority for Karin Community Initiatives Uganda (KICU).
As we sit for our monthly management meetings our focus is on the children like Opio. Our overall goals are marched with the Millennium Development Goals and determining what we must do in the next months as the MDG plans end this year. In 2000, an estimated 9.9 million children around the world died before age 5. This number dropped to 6.3 million in 2013. The 3.6 million lives that have been saved during this timeframe is far more than a statistic – it is a staggering and heartening reminder of the power we have to better the lives of children, families and communities throughout the world.
At the Karin clinics, even though our figures feel like a drop in the ocean, nevertheless we reached out to 12,900 children in the last year alone.
Whilst we have a lot to celebrate when we look at the progress made, we cannot afford to be complacent- far too many of the vulnerable and hard to reach children are being left behind. We need to continue the job of ensuring every child can reach his or her potential and this year’s action is a fitting forum to further this work.
Our plan is to put more emphasis on health education and promotion intervention into program in innovative ways- figuring out what works in our local context and building an evidence base with our district t effectively support children and parents in the early years.
We think of mothers like Lanyero who want to keep her children safe. Lanyero and so many mothers in the village of Agonga want to know how to keep their children healthy and free from danger.
We can only do this with your support. By supporting our rural health centres and ensuring that its equipped and managed by well-trained medical professionals.
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