PIUMA HBC volunteers in Makwaranga: a necessary source of health support.

 

 

In Makwaranga, a grueling 25 km walk from Bulongwa, three PIUMA members trained in Home-Based Care (HBC) act as the village emergency response team.  Anna, Sabina and Baton’s training took place last year, with PIUMA nurse Mary Musoma.

 

The need for health services in Makwaranga is extremely great.  Dusty, cold and remote, the village harbors high rates disease.  Unlike Bulongwa, where the majority of homes are built of brick with corrugated steel roofs, Makwaranga is comprised mostly of bamboo and mud houses and roofs of grass.  Road access, crossing rivers without bridges and potholes the size of small cars, is scant and near impossible in the rainy season.  There is no electricity – not even individual solar panels that service some of the other towns outside Bulongwa.

 

The HBC volunteers have a tough job, but they are optimistic about their progress.  Before their training, members of their village had nowhere to turn; the small hospital in Ipelele is a two hours walk away and until recently, did not supply Anti-Retroviral medication.  This meant HIV patients had to walk eight hours to the Bulongwa Lutheran Hospital twice per month.

 

The difficulty of accessing medication contributed to the poor health of the villagers, but since PIUMA has become a presence in the village, patients are being forced through collective pressure to stay up to date on their medical regimen.

 

PIUMA first reached Makwaranga in 2006 as part of a publicity and member outreach campaign.  The village is now home to seven members, who have formed the group Tufarijiane, which means to comfort, and are currently growing vegetables and raising pigs to generate a collective income.

 

In addition to caring for, and teaching proper home treatment of HIV, the HBC volunteers visit sick villagers, wash their clothes and cook for them, and if need be, they even bring them to the hospital.  Sometimes this is done with PIUMA funding a car, but for the most part, they strap the patient to a bicycle and walk them to the hospital in Ipelele.

 

The PIUMA members in Makwaranga have come to rely on each other for support.  Each of the seven members has lost a spouse and cares for their children alone.  “We can’t leave PIUMA,” Sabina says, and Anna adds, “We need to be members because we want to be strong!”

 

This year, Anna was elected General Secretary of PIUMA, an important 3-year position that keeps her now working in Bulongwa full-time.  Anna’s high spirits and flair are known to all members, and her election is a testament to her hard work as an HBC volunteer.

 

 

 

 

Story  by HH volunteer,

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