Save Lives in the World's Most Remote Villages

Last Mile Health saves lives in the world’s most remote communities by partnering with governments to design, scale, and advocate for national networks of professional community health workers. Recruited from within their home communities, these workers strengthen health systems and transform health outcomes at the last mile by delivering an integrated package of lifesaving healthcare services directly to their neighbors’ doorsteps.

Having grown up in rural Liberia, Darius was introduced to the medical field at a young age by his mother who worked as a nurse at a local health facility. After graduating from the Deanna Kay Isaacson School of Midwifery in nearby Zwedru, he went on to work as a midwife at the county’s main referral hospital for two years before accepting a job in Konobo as a Community Health Services Supervisor in July 2017. Reflecting on his decision to become a clinician, he is quick to stress his passion for the job, emphasizing that he “decided to be a clinician not [just] because my mother was a part of this field.”

In what he describes as a challenging and rewarding new role, Darius joins a growing network of more than 300 Community Health Services Supervisors nationwide who are leading the roll-out of the National Community Health Assistant (CHA) Program. Under this initiative, he spends 80 percent of his work week traveling by motorbike or on foot through dense rainforest to reach the CHAs assigned to him for supervision and mentorship. One day a week is reserved for the provision of direct patient care at the district health center.

In taking on this demanding role in one of Liberia’s most isolated districts, Darius’ assignment in Konobo sets him at the heart of the program’s humble roots. In the aftermath of the devastating Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the Government of Liberia set out to design a strategy for extending lifesaving healthcare to the country’s remote communities. Inspired by the success of Last Mile Health’s community health worker pilot project launched in Konobo District in 2012, the Ministry of Health called upon Last Mile Health to support the design and implementation of the National CHA Program. What began as a small program with just a handful of community health workers helped to inform an ambitious, nationwide initiative that is well on its way to ensuring that all 1.2 million Liberians who live more than five kilometers from the nearest clinic or hospital have access to a trained, supervised community health worker.

Reflecting on what initially inspired him to enroll in midwifery school, Darius reports that he is inspired by the progress that his CHAs have achieved thus far and is eager to continue using his skills as a clinician to improve health outcomes for women and child at the last mile. “I came to work in this particular field so that I can reach to the people that the health facility cannot cover,” he shared with pride. “I am working for my community and the people are benefitting from the work that I’m doing, so I’m enjoying the job.”