Why Susan Lenantari advocates for a health-literate population
By People Reporter, November 11, 2019By Lilian Kaivilu@liliankaivilu
Susan Lenantari is a community resource person and a Community Health Volunteer (CHV) responsible for mobilising members of each community targeted in the camel outreach.
Lenantari, 38, is also a mobile community health volunteer. “Unlike other CHVs, I am not confined to one place. I visit up to 200 households in Wamba, Resim, Lodungokwe among other areas in a month,” she says.
With a backpack loaded with immunisation and other drugs, Lenantari often uses a motorbike to reach some homes. “But where motorbikes cannot reach due to poor terrain, I have to walk,” she says.
During home visits, Lenantari engages community members on health education matters including family planning, nutrition, maternal and child health.
“My aim is to ensure that community members have the right health information to make sound decisions regarding their health,” says Lenantari, whose work can go up to late in the night.
During the camel outreaches in Samburu East, Lenantari stays up late talking to mothers and adolescent girls on matters reproductive health. “Since many of them feel comfortable in their own homes, I have to go where they are. This often happens at night, because during the day they are busy with their daily household chores,” she explains.
The CHV has a good rapport with the local administration of the areas she visits. “I ensure that the local chief and village elder are my first point of contact before I start any medical outreach or mobilisation exercise. I am also advantaged because I speak the local language,” she explains.
Lenantari leads the mobilisation exercise, which happens a week ahead of the visit by the camel outreach team. “In this case, we started mobilisation on August 8, 2019. The outreach targets communities living at least 20 kilometres from the nearest health facility.
Apua Lenamunyi, Samburu East Sub County Reproductive health coordinator, says although the uptake of reproductive health commodities in the area has been low, the camel outreach provides a convenient avenue for the locals.
About six out of every 10 women in Kenya deliver at a health facility, according to the 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey. This is an improvement from 43 per cent deliveries (in a health facility) in 2008/2009. In Samburu, more mothers are now giving birth and accessing family planning commodities from health facilities, thanks to community health volunteers.
Gilbert Wangalwa, Chief of Party, Afya Timiza, says the project has seen a rise in uptake of family planning commodities by the locals.
“We have had to first work on the cultural factors that hinder the locals from seeking health services from skilled healthcare workers. The outcome so far in terms of family planning has been very high. Majority of the locals are now aware of the different methods of family planning,” said Wangalwa.