The people of Chidelezi community in the Traditional Authority Kawamba, Kasungu led by the safe motherhood taskforce volunteers have defied all odds by constructing a simple village clinic which will greatly help the communities by handling basic minor illnesses and antenatal services.
Chidelezi community is one of the communities in Kasungu and has never had a health facility nearby since time immemorial and has always relied on Kawamba Health Center which is located some 58 km away.
The taskforce group further came up with incentives like soap and salt which are given to all newly delivered mothers who had delivered at the health facility and upon finishing all the 4 recommended anti-natal visits.
According to Chidelezi Taskforce Chair, the initiative to give out incentives to mothers delivering at the health facility is aimed at encouraging more women to deliver with the help of a skilled personnel in order to avoid deaths that can be avoided. He further stated that the group came up with ways to generate resources to help realize their plan.
The group has a dimba garden where the taskforce grows vegetables and the cash realized from the produce is used to buy the soap and salt for the initiative.
The grouping also helps those without transportation to access health facilities using the very same resources. The task-force also has local chicken broilers and the eggs are sold to support the noble cause.
TA Kawamba, in his remarks concluded that the initiatives are key to driving more women deliver at facilities taking into account that soap and salt are scarce resources amongst many rural women.
He further stated that increased access to information, income and nutritious food are some of the direct benefits her community is having.