“ Do people pay for services during these medical camps ?” I asked . “ Absolutely not . We mobilize for drugs , volunteer medical personnel and other logistics . When we take a medical camp to a village , we treat everyone that turns up for free . In fact sometimes we organize for surgical camps and take consultant surgeons to the village to provide quality services to people who could never have afforded such level of healthcare .”
“ You talked about health literacy , please expound ,” I inquired .
“ Health literacy involves building the capacity of healthcare providers to do their work well , especially through continuous medical education ; and creating awareness in the community about specific conditions or promoting healthcare-seeking behaviours at community level .”
She paused and looked at me , and then added , “ For example last month on September 30th was World Heart Day . Even though it is a global day marked worldwide , I organized for a Heart Walk and mobilized several people and local organizations including Kisii University , Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital , private hospitals , and companies to participate in the Walk . We marched through the streets of Kisii town to raise awareness about cardiovascular conditions . The climax was at Gusii stadium where we held a half marathon and free medical camp . On that day alone we reached over 3,500 people with targeted information on heart health .”
“ Where do you get the money to do all these activities ? I asked . “ Funding has been our greatest challenge . Sometimes I spend my salary or savings if there is an emergency but most of the time I ask friends and well-wishers to support . But we need a more constant and sustainable funding stream because the need is big and we are unable to cope with the demand .”
“ You have been constantly referring to ‘ we ’ or ‘ our ’. Who are these people ?”
She broadly grinned at this question . “ I cannot work alone . I work with a team of excellent volunteers . The success you see must never be accredited to me alone . For example , my husband is one of my biggest donors . So I ’ m not alone .”
“ What else do you do ?” “ Gender-Based Violence is one area that is important to us . We participate in all activities organized by other organizations
14 Change Magazine January 2018 www . changemag-diinsider . com