New Program Manager for IWHP

At ETI, we believe that when you educate a woman, you change the entire village, and we have put that belief into action in our latest staff hire. Efrancia Mzota is the new Program Manager for the Improving Women’s Health Program, and she has already begun the process of recruiting 26 women to be Community Health Educators (CHEs) in the Same District.

Ms. Mzota comes to us as a recent graduate from Dodoma University, with a degree in Community Development.  She is excited to be part of a program that has such a profound effect on the health of women in the most rural areas of Tanzania.

The Improving Women’s Health Program will focus on the following key areas in 2013, and training of the Community Health Workers will begin in January:

• Safe Water

• Hand Washing

• Nutrition

• Malaria Prevention

Once trained, the CHEs will go into the community and organize Community Education Sessions, focused primarily on women, teaching them to improve their own health, and that of their families.  Men will also be welcome, as their involvement also improves the health of the family, but in Tanzanian culture, the main responsibility for the family’s health lies with the women, so they are the primary recipients of this program.

The CHEs will have a variety of tools at their disposal, including videos in Swahili to explain the concepts and demonstrate techniques, demonstration items so that the women can practice what they are learning, and of course, education in effective speaking and teaching skills.

ETI will measure the success of the program based on numbers of people participating, and the comparison of District health statistics before and after implementation of the Education Sessions.