Save Lives in the World's Most Remote Villages

Founded on the belief that everyone has the right to access health care, no matter where they live, Last Mile Health works side-by-side with governments to develop and support networks of paid, professional community health workers who bring lifesaving healthcare services to the doorsteps of those who need them the most. In Liberia, this is being done via the National Community Health Assistant Program, a groundbreaking healthcare delivery initiative that will extend care to all 1.2 million Liberians living more than five kilometers from the nearest clinic or hospital by 2021.

At the frontline of this healthcare delivery system are clinical supervisors like Laurina and the community health workers they mentor. Growing up witness to immense suffering throughout Liberia’s 14-year civil war and driven further by the Government’s urgent need for health workers to rebuild the health system, Laurina knew it was her calling to help those most in need. “When there is war, you see a lot of things that burn your heart. You want to help but you don’t have the real knowledge. So for now, since I get the knowledge, I can go anywhere to give help.”

With her midwifery qualification and subsequent training through the National Community Health Assistant Program, Laurina is now one of more than 350 supervisors that mentor and oversee the 3,100 community health workers deployed throughout Liberia. On any given day, Laurina will travel hours on foot, motorbike, or boat to reach the remote communities supported by the program, helping community health workers who live in these communities to accurately diagnose common illnesses like diarrhea, malaria, pneumonia, and malnutrition. As a result of supervisors like Laurina, when people in remote communities fall sick with simple conditions, they can now be diagnosed and treated there and then, without having to travel hours or even wait days for transport to a health center. As she explains, “when I train my community health workers, I go, I mentor them, I talk to them, to make sure that children … will be able to live”.

Motivated by a belief that no one should die because they live too far from a health center, Laurina is driven to work in challenging, highly remote locations doing difficult work because of “the passion for our people”. She explains how “when you get to the bushes, in the villages, just kilometers away, you see the need. You see that people really need health care. You see children sick. So many things. So we need to leave the capital city and go to the people, they are our people.”

Until recently, many people considered it too challenging to provide health care to Liberia’s most remote communities. But with the commitment of health workers like Laurina and the vision of the Government of Liberia, Last Mile Health has demonstrated that health care for all, no matter where they live, is indeed possible. “As clinical supervisors, you go beyond your boundaries… You see the need of people in the rural areas – areas that they cannot get health care. That’s why the passion is there. You decide to go beyond, to extend health. That’s why I chose to be a clinical supervisor.”