Maintaining Community Engagement

When we hosted our first community volunteer meeting back in July one of the strongest pieces of feedback I received was “don’t disappear!” In communities that become subjects of multiple research projects and interventions like CLI’s, it’s important to work with intention to follow through, and illustrate the value these projects bring back–and not just to the PIs.

So, even though the next volunteer meeting occurred sooner than I had planned, I was still happy to hear that Monday’s gathering was well attended, and that our IDs are still being made and new volunteers recruited. The people in our catchment area move frequently, so we anticipated roll over in volunteers who moved out of the catchment area or into a village that was already represented by an existing surveillance volunteer.

Speaking of rollover… our star Health Surveillance Assistant, Lamulani, went off to university! He’s studying medicine and how can we not be excited for that? Luckily, the rest of the HSAs are stepping up and taking care of business. Frank, pictured, is working with fellow HSA Chrispine to continue cultivating this wonderful community dedicated to improving our knowledge about maternal and neonatal care in the MWC catchment area.

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