How to Become a Community Health Volunteer Hero: Two Heros Share Their Stories

CATHERINE KANGAI

Catherine Kangai is one of the Community Health Volunteers with the most experience in the county and at HopeCore. She joined when HopeCore's Mother-to-Mother providers program was in operation in 2016. She was educating mothers about various health issues and organizing mothers for HopeCore maternal and child health clinics while working unpaid in the community. Since the community unit she is from was not established by the county when she enrolled in the HopeCore CHV program, she was the only CHV from her area serving the entire community unit. These community units are ideally made up of 10 villages, which are served by 10 CHVs. Given that she wasn't paid, this shows a new level of commitment and effort.

Kangai conducting BP screening in the community

The community members selected her as their CHV when their community unit was established in 2022 under universal health care. The other 9 CHVs appointed her as their lead due to her perseverance, sacrifice, hard work, and zeal in everything she does. Kangai has gained much knowledge over the years from the training provided by HopeCore and other organizations, such as the county government. This is evidenced by the village's trust in her and the fact that they invite her to speak on health issues at their gatherings and churches. She has referred many people to the health center, especially those with presumptive TB symptoms. When the tests return positive, she makes follow-ups to ensure they take their medication. For instance, she referred critically ill twins who later tested positive for TB last year. After receiving treatment, they made a full recovery. She has also referred two patients with fistulas, and they fully recovered. Since such patients find it difficult to open up to anyone, they demonstrate the community's confidence in her. She is the sole CHV conducting TB screening for the entire community unit because she was the only one of the 10 CHVs to attend the HopeCore training on TB screening last year.

A single goal drives Catherine: she wants to leave her community in a better state than she found it. She claims that even though volunteering is one of the most challenging tasks because there is no pay involved, it is also the most rewarding. In 2022, she is our heroine. Her commitment to making a difference in the world through her work is admirable.

FLORAH KAWIRA

Florah Kawira is a Community Health Volunteer from Kirumi community unit. "Being a community health volunteer takes much courage," Flora explains, "especially in rural communities." You must step outside your comfort zone and accommodate other people's perspectives and perceptions by planning your time, taking a break from work, and making household visits. Volunteering also pushes you to confront several brutal realities. You will meet sick people with terminal diseases, hungry children, families whose houses have been wrecked, and people with all kinds of problems and needs. However, as a volunteer, you must be bold and prioritize their needs over your own." As a result, she has emerged as one of the best CHVs among the 1000 CHVs supported by HopeCore in Tharaka Nithi County. Florah is extremely knowledgeable and articulate and stands out as our program's greatest CHV. She makes the most home visits compared to the other CHVs. Other CHVs, for example, visit 20 families every month on average, whereas Flora visits 100. This is impressive given the region's rough landscape, and some homesteads are not close.

Flora educating a household member on diabetes

The members of the community value her work. Since she attended all of the training organized by HopeCore and the County government, she is an excellent health educator and knowledgeable about health-related topics. Additionally, she completed a brief course on HIV and Aids counseling. Balancing her voluntary job and caring for her family is Florah's biggest challenge. She clarified that before doing home visits in the neighborhood, she must make sure she can obtain money to support her family. In 2019, Florah Kawira was recognized as the top CHV. She enjoys attending our organization's training workshops and using the teaching aids such as the educational flipbooks that we provide her with.