Catherine: A Harare community health volunteer’s passion

on July 23, 2024 in Health and Wellbeing, News

Catherine has dedicated the past eight years to being a community health volunteer because she passionately believes that no one in her community should die from ignorance.

Catherine has dedicated the past eight years to being a community health volunteer because she passionately believes that no one in her community should die from ignorance.

Living in Glen View, a densely populated suburb east of Harare, Catherine balances her roles as a mother and provider with her commitment to volunteer work.

She and her husband work together to support their family of four, but Catherine’s true calling extends beyond her household.

Volunteering allows her to give back and share vital health knowledge with her neighbours.

“I always feel that we should help each other as a community because sometimes people die due to ignorance,” she explains, highlighting her unwavering dedication to improving the well-being of those around her.

Community health volunteers play a vital role in communities as they often are the first point of contact for those seeking medical help or solutions.

In the current cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, which has affected 34 531 people since February 2023, community health volunteers like Catherine have played a vital role in educating and sensitising communities on prevention and knowledge on what to do should cholera happen.

Catherine said: “I have also been a community health volunteer since 2016 and help the community regarding cholera, a current problem.  During this time, we encourage people to drink clean water. Usually, we face water challenges, and people fetch water from unprotected sources. We encourage them to treat their water and properly cook their food.”

From February 2023, 1 614 community health volunteers were trained from all 10 provinces to support cholera response activities in the community.

The cadres reached approximately 1 660 000 people through various engagements, using door-to-door and mass awareness approaches at churches, funerals, markets, and schools.

For Catherine, being a community health volunteer is a passion and a calling.

She manages her time to engage the community on health issues, including the cholera outbreak, and keep her small community business going to support her family.

She highlights key points where she engages the community, such as the water points.

Here, the community collects water at designated times, and she can engage and teach her community on issues of cholera prevention, including hygiene and sanitation and the available resources at health centres.

Community health volunteers support monitoring rehabilitated water points as part of water point committees, benefiting approximately 424 000 people. 

“The training at the water point will enable me to provide health education.  Some people get sick and do not tell anyone, so they use home remedies.  At the water point, we urge them to visit the clinic and get vaccinated.”

UNICEF’s cholera response is funded by multiple donors, including the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO); the Health Resilience Fund (HRF), a Zimbabwean pooled fund supported by the Governments of Ireland, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance; Japan; the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and UNICEF Global Humanitarian Funding, and with in-kind support from private sector partners such as Alliance Media & JCDecaux for digital billboards, and Cash-In-Kind logistics support for commodities from United Parcel Service (UPS) Foundation.

SOURCE:: Unicef via link https://www.unicef.org/zimbabwe/stories/catherine-harare-community-health-volunteers-passion