What is the Kesho Leo Community Health Program?
The Kesho Leo Community Health Program aims to enable optimal health and wellbeing for vulnerable women, their children and orphaned children who live at Kesho Leo children’s village through the provision of health education and clinical services. The program was designed following a detailed needs assessment of the local community conducted in 2008. We recognise that health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Who is on the team?
At Kesho Leo, the fws health program is led by a dedicated full-time volunteer with support from the entire team at Kesho Leo. The Kesho Leo Health Manager works closely with the education and social welfare volunteers to provide a holistic program for Kesho Leo residents.
The fws health program is managed by Fran Stevens, who is an Australian health manager currently based in Aceh, Indonesia. Fran’s background is in public health, midwifery, mental health and international mother and child health projects.
The Health Policy Officer – community health centre is Karen Champlin. Karen’s skills in paediatrics, international and public health and her first-hand knowledge of Kesho Leo is fantastic for developing and maintaining the policies for the community health program in Kesho Leo.
Previous Kesho Leo Health Managers have included Heather Groat, Fran Stevens, Karen Champlin, Jennifer Mills and Lauren Bartley.
What do we do?
There are two arms to the health program:
1. Kesho Leo Community Health Centre
2. Health education and promotion.
What does the Kesho Leo Community Health Centre do and who does it care for?
Our community health centre is based in the Kesho Leo children’s village. We have adequate equipment to provide Kesho Leo’s mamas and children with clinical treatment for mild infections, colds and flu and first aid. We also provide regular health assessments, with referrals and transportation to local existing health services as required, keeping detailed case records to monitor children’s development and the health, wellbeing and ongoing disease management of all Kesho Leo residents. Although our first priority is to our Kesho Leo residents, our employees and volunteers are also able to access the community health centre on-site. We hope to open the community health centre to the wider community in the future, but for now we will focus on Kesho Leo residents because we will soon be welcoming orphans to Kesho Leo and they will need lots of TLC. Like all aspects of Kesho Leo, our community health centre is environmentally friendly, operating with minimal waste and energy use.
What about the Kesho Leo Health Education & promotion Program?
The Health Education and Promotion Program provides training, information and proactive encouragement of health-seeking behaviour for Kesho Leo residents, workers and the nearby community. Through this program, Kesho Leo mamas have been learning about health care and disease prevention since they began training for their positions in early 2008, well before they moved to Kesho Leo in late 2009. The Program has covered health issues such as: first aid, malaria treatment and prevention, pregnancy care, care of sick children, nutrition, hygiene and natural medicine. Kesho Leo mamas have also expressed interest in working towards first aid certificates in the coming months. The Health Education & Promotion Program has also extended to the wider community. Kesho Leo Health manager volunteers have held training and information sessions for the local community about current health issues, with great response from the community when sessions were conducted on HIV/AIDS and voluntary counselling and testing (VCT). More community education has been planned for this year…watch this space. Other short-term goals of the Program include developing health literature in the local Kiswahili language.
Do we have a Tanzanian nurse?
We are in the process of recruiting a local Tanzanian nurse, who will be a very welcome addition to the program.
How are we funded?
The Kesho Leo Community Health Program relies on general income streams around fws, such as donations and fundraisers. We would also welcome directed donations and grants for this particular area of our operations. Our main costs are medical equipment and supplies, a small stipend for our health volunteer, and in the near future the salary for a Tanzanian nurse.
If you think you’d like to support us directly and would like some further information, please contact the fws Health Program manager, Fran Stevens at fran.stevens@foodwatershelter.org.au
