CBN facilitated a Community Health Workers training at Kuje last year. Providing free medical care to rural communities across Nigeria is a huge part of our vision as an organization. We discovered that many rural communities have no access to proper healthcare. The ones who have access to these resources usually have to travel about 7km or more, just to get medical attention. Jeida in Kuje, Abuja was one of such communities.
After several successful “medical missions,” as we like to call them, we realised that these one-time visits were not sufficient to solve all the problems in the communities. This is simply because after we leave, more people eventually fall sick. We can’t keep going back to the same communities every time, due to distance and financial constraints, so we thought of better ways to make a lasting impact. After much pondering, we decided to embark on a project to set-up “CBN Rural Clinics.”
CBN Trains Community Health Workers in Kuje
CBN collaborated with the Presbyterian Church Jeida, Kuje to establish a rural clinic. Training of Volunteer Community Health Workers commenced on the 25th September – 7th October, 2017. We had 18 participants from 3 rural communities namely: Jeida, Daka and Kaida. The training lasted for a period of two weeks.
Out of the 18 participants, 14 were attending the health workers training for the first time, while the remaining 4 had been a part of previous trainings at one time or the other.
The trainees were given a general overview of what the CBN Humanitarian Department does, and our aims, objectives were explained. We also gave them the job description of a CBN Volunteer Community Health Worker, and ensured that they clearly understood the standing orders of practice.
Major topics covered at the training
Although we want our volunteers to be good at caring for sick patients, we also want them to learn some preventive health strategies especially in the areas of sanitation and nutrition. These topics were covered. Here’s a list of some other topics covered during the training:
- Anatomy of the Human body
- Basic Physiology of Blood, Water and Urine
- Pathogens and Vector Control
- Immunization
- Skin Infections
- Malaria and Seizure control
- Maternal Health and Family Planning methods
- Diarrhea Disease and Oral Therapy
- Acute Respiratory infections
- Occupational Health
- Drug and Drug dosage
- First Aid and Wound Management
- Nutrition
- A General Overview of the Medical Laboratory
- Oral Health
- Mental Health
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases(STDs), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and AIDS
- Urinary Tract Infection
- Management of minor eye diseases in rural areas
- Record Keeping and Documentation
We did not want anybody running into trouble, so we emphasised special cases and illnesses that need to be referred to more experienced healthcare professionals. Furthermore, the trainees were exposed to hands-on practicals including, general examination and respiratory rate check, pulse and temperature measurement, Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT), wound dressing and sterilisation of instruments, different over-the-counter drug dosages, pregnancy testing, hypertension and blood pressure measurement, and resuscitation.
Conclusion
The training ended with exams in theory and practicals. Afterwards, certificates were presented to the new participants. The participants, especially the new ones, were happy and grateful for the opportunity given them by CBN to learn and boost their knowledge in medical practice. One of them Uviasah Believe Oghor from Jeida said she had always wanted to be a nurse and the training was a stepping stone to the realisation of her dreams.
We thank you our generous financial partners for your continued support. It is because of you that people like Believe can see their dreams fulfilled. Click this link to partner with us today, and help build stronger communities across Africa.
