Partnerships provide model for future health efforts
Ivoirian volunteer Siriki Lacinan uses a bullhorn to alert
village residents to the health campaign supported by United Methodist
groups and their partners.
UMNS photos by Mike DuBose. |
By Tim Tanton*
Dec. 15, 2008 | DADIEKRO, Côte d’Ivoire (UMNS)
Siriki Lacinan knows children are the future of his country. That’s
why he has participated in every vaccination campaign in his area since
1992.
A farmer, Lacinan was among United Methodist volunteers working at a
temporary health care station in Dadiekro village in mid-November. The
station vaccinated children against measles, provided doses of vitamin A
and a de-worming tablet, and gave children bed nets to repel
mosquitoes.
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Siriki Lacinan carries a child as he demonstrates the proper way to use an insecticide-treated mosquito net.
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Lacinan has a personal connection with one mosquito-borne disease in particular. "My senior brother died of malaria," he said.
His brother died 10 years ago at age 48, felled by a disease that
kills an estimated 1 million people a year in Africa. Malaria takes a
particularly severe toll on African children, killing one out of every
five, age 5 or younger, according to the United Nations.
After helping set up a mosquito net display in Dadiekro, Lacinan
directed some of the village children into it for a demonstration. They
ran in and out, laughing. Then he placed a baby under the net.
"I am interested in everything that concerns children because they
are going to replace us tomorrow," he said in an interview a few minutes
later.
The tall, gregarious Ivoirian was among nearly 1,000 United Methodist
volunteers who staffed stations around Côte d’Ivoire as part of a Nov.
11-15 integrated health campaign. They were joined by nearly 35 other
volunteers from the United Methodist Texas Conference, which has a
partnership with the Côte d’Ivoire Conference.
Partnerships were at the heart of this unprecedented outreach in West Africa aimed at protecting children’s health.
More than 1 million insecticide-treated bed nets were distributed to
children between 9 months and 59 months old living in 18 areas of the
country most in need. Nationwide, the campaign sought to give every
child in that age range the vaccination, vitamin A and de-worming
tablet.
Bringing salvation
The two United Methodist conferences were part of a coalition that
included the Ivoirian Ministry of Health, the U.N. Foundation,
Population Services International, the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries and its United Methodist Committee on Relief, United
Methodist Communications and other organizations.
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The Rev. Nancy Kellond (left) of Montgomery (Texas) United Methodist Church hands out nets.
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The distribution "brings salvation to us," said Dr. Ekponon D. Angaman,
director of the Grand-Lahou District office of Population Services
International, which ensured that the campaign reached villages in
remote areas. "The Methodists have done a good work in the mobilization
(of volunteers) … and organizing this campaign. It’s a partnership that
we have to salute."
The campaign exceeded expectations, said Beatrice Nandjui, a United
Methodist health care professional who coordinated the Ivoirian
volunteers.
"It’s been an extraordinary experience for me because I’ve never done
this, and I did it without thinking it would fail," she said. "It’s
only when we were about to start that I wondered if we would succeed."
She noted that the campaign marked the first time the church had
collaborated with the Ivoirian Ministry of Health, which was a vital
partner.
The presence of more than 30 volunteers from Texas gave added
importance to the role of the church in the campaign, Nandjui said. When
people from outside the country participate in such an effort, the work
takes on a new dimension.
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United Methodist volunteer Jan Ervin, of Deer Park, Texas, comforts a child who is receiving a measles vaccination.
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"I’m really excited about what’s happening here," said Bishop Janice
Riggle Huie, leader of the Texas Conference, who was in Côte d’Ivoire
for part of the campaign. The partnerships symbolize new possibilities
for the entire United Methodist Church, she said.
Adrianna Logalbo, director of the Nothing But Nets campaign for the
U.N. Foundation, said the leveraging of partnerships between United
Methodists in Côte d’Ivoire and the United States was "incredibly
unique," and she hoped it would be a model for future campaigns.
One Texas volunteer, the Rev. Morris Mathis of Sugarland, Texas,
helped organize a 250-mile bike ride last spring from near Houston to
the site of the denomination’s General Conference in Fort Worth. The
campaign raised $160,000 for bed nets.
"Little did I realize then that I would be given the opportunity to
come and to see the faces of the people whose lives would be saved by
those nets," he said. "This has been an experience that I will remember
for the rest of my life."
Melissa Crutchfield, with UMCOR’s Malaria Control Program, helped
train the volunteers. For her, one of the most memorable moments
occurred when a grateful woman approached her and managed to speak three
words in English: "I love you."
Follow-up needed
That depth of feeling was widespread, as evidenced by long lines of
people at the health care stations. Christine Kouassi stood outside a
line in Agboville with her niece’s children Nov. 12 and said it was a
great day.
"People here do not have financial resources to buy their own net," she explained.
Kouassi, a nutritionist for a maternal health and children’s hospital
in Agboville, has seen the impact of malaria on children. Delays in
treatment can leave physical marks on a child and lead to anemia, nerve
damage and even death.
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A public health worker from Population Services
International rides a motorcycle through the remote village of Dadiekro.
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"I’ve seen a lot of children dying of malaria," she said.
In Dadiekro, Lacinan observed that vaccinations and vitamin A had
been given in previous campaigns, but the addition of the free nets made
this effort different. He said he hopes the program is repeated in the
future. "My hope is that we should also include the adults as well as
the children in this campaign."
Next steps in the campaign include following up with nets recipients
to make sure the nets are being used properly. Nandjui said the church
has 750 trained volunteers to do the follow-up work.
The Rev. Jacques Abaka Miessan, pastor of the United Methodist church
in the fishing village of Groguida—a village only accessible by
boat—provided prayer leadership at some of the distribution points for
the campaign. Speaking later at his church, he used the campaign as an
example of how the church must be at work in the world.
"The mission of the church is not to preach the Gospel only," he said, "but the well-being of the whole person."
*Tanton is director of the Media Group at United Methodist Communications.
News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Video clips
Siriki Lacinan, volunteer: The importance of free nets
The Rev. Morris Mathis, volunteer: “We’ve encountered Christ.”
Jan Ervin, volunteer: “I try to be the mother figure”
The Rev. Bill Webb, volunteer: “We issued almost 700 nets”
Isaac Broune, Cote d’Ivoire UMC communicator: Mosquitoes breed in garbage
Related stories
Campaign offers life-saving help to Ivoirian families
Malaria initiatives join for 1st time in Cote d’Ivoire outreach
United Methodists celebrate partnership, lives saved in Côte d’Ivoire health campaign
Nets distribution campaign kicks off in Côte d’Ivoire
United Methodists look forward to nets outreach in Côte d’Ivoire
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