My name is Justine Bakeda and I am a Community Health Worker in Togo. On this Giving Tuesday, I would like to tell you about my typical day.
Early in the morning, as the sun rises and the rooster crows in my courtyard, a young boy runs through the fields to my house. He calls out to me, saying his mother has sent him because his younger sister has a fever. I follow him back to his family’s compound, greeting my neighbors along the way.
When we arrive at his house, his mother is holding his little sister, only 2 years old. I greet his mother and begin my work. As a Community Health Worker, I am trained to identify and treat the leading causes of childhood illness. I take the girl’s temperature and do a finger prick test for malaria. Other children gather around us to see what I am up to. The test is positive, so I measure out the appropriate dose of medicine and explain to the mother how to give it to her daughter. I promise to be back the next day to check on her progress. If she isn’t feeling better, I will refer her to the health clinic for further care.
While on this side of my village, I decide to visit a pregnant woman who was supposed to attend her prenatal consultation yesterday. She greets me warmly and offers me some water and a plastic chair to sit in on her porch. I accept, as I am tired from the 45 minute walk it took me to arrive at her house. I ask to see her pink health booklet, and notice that she has missed her appointment. She tells me that because it had rained the night before, she had to work in her fields instead of going to the health center. I remind her of the importance of prenatal consultations and even speak with her husband to make sure that he will allow her to go. She decides to make up her appointment this afternoon and we walk together to the health center.
As a Community Health Worker, I see daily the impact of having access to fast, quality healthcare. I am proud to be part of a solution that is improving my community. Children are no longer dying in large numbers, and mothers have hope that they will live through childbirth and be able to care for their children.
On this Giving Tuesday, I ask you to stand with me by making a recurring monthly donation to support my work in Togo. Please join the Stand With Togo Campaign, and sign up for a reccuring donation to ensure that my lifesaving work will continue. Thank you for joining me on a typical day through my life as a Community Health Worker and thank you for your support of Hope Through Health.
In solidarity,
Justine Bakeda
Community Health Worker