HEALTH IS WEALTH
‘He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything’
Thomas Carlyle
Women and children in rural areas face many health problems. The Health Care Project (HCP) raises awareness about health issues, e.g. by stressing the importance of clean drinking water, and promoting the use of smokeless stoves to help reduce eye-infections. The HCP also provides basic health training for children. It also trains local women in midwifery, and health care for mothers and children. Other primary health care issues are covered too, such as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), awareness about HIV/AIDS, plus the provision of on-the-spot medical check-ups and treatment, and help in accessing additional medical facilities if these are needed.
The use of mother tongue ensures that all people, including illiterate monolingual men and women, are able to fully understand what is being taught. They can then apply what is learnt in their own situations.
Health Awareness
Provision of health information
The Health Care team regularly visits rural villages to discuss and provide information on issues such as adolescence hygiene, WASH, open defecation, and the prevention and treatment of common diseases such as water-borne diseases and stomach infections. It organizes the information sessions on Safe Motherhood, pre-natal care and post-natal care.
As is appropriate in the local culture, female staff teaches the ladies, and male staff teach the men.
Smokeless Stoves
Improving health and the environment
The smoke from traditional mud stoves can cause damage to women’s eyes and lungs, as they must sit close to the fire to cook. These smokeless stoves have been locally designed and can be easily made using readily available materials. They not only protect women’s eyes and lungs from the damaging effect of smoke, but are also fuel-efficient. By using less firewood, they save women time and protect the environment. The Health Care Project provides local women with the necessary materials and practical training to enable them to make these stoves themselves.
Water Filtration
Accessing Clean Water
Many villages do not have access to clean drinking water. The Health Care team promotes the use of Nadi Filter systems which use appropriate technology and local materials to provide families with clean drinking water. This enables villagers to be able to access schemes run by local NGOs which provide subsidized materials and practical training for making and maintaining these water filtration systems.
Training of Traditional Birth Attendant and Basic Healthcare Workers
Improving maternity and health care
Most Parkari women live in remote villages without access to trained TBA or medical care. The Health Care Project provides community based training courses for village women in TBA, mother and child health care, and primary health care. Once trained, these village women provide the community with local access to improved basic health care, including antenatal and postnatal advice, and assistance in childbirth from a trained birth attendant.
Detoxifier Scheme
Recovery from snake bites
This scheme provides battery-powered detoxifiers, which neutralize the effects of venom, by giving brief but powerful electric shocks to the site of the original bite and to the whole area that is swollen. These detoxifiers work for a wide range of venoms, and provide victims of snake bites and scorpion stings with free and effective treatment, which begins to ease both the pain and the swelling within a few minutes.
OPD Programs – On-the-spot Medical Checkups and treatment
Health check
The Health Care team also provides on-the-spot medical check-ups and treatment, by holding clinics and dispensing medicines as they travel from village to village in the rural areas.
Children's Health Education
Keeping children healthy
The Health Care Project provides village women with information about a child’s body and how to keep it clean, and also how to prevent the spread of common childhood diseases. The Health Care team use pictures and posters, together with oral explanations in mother tongue, to ensure understanding and increase selfmotivation.
The Health Care Project has also produced a Parkari translation of the “Child to Child” basic health course, which is taught as part of the mother tongue curriculum in PLP’s Multilingual Primary Schools. Teaching children about health issues from an early age should ensure that, when they grow up, they will have both the knowledge and motivation to provide a healthy environment for their families. These activities ensure that children are aware of children’s health issues, which will help them when they become parents. This is especially important for the girls, who are the mothers of the future.