Twin Citizen: Child monitors become community health workers
As a volunteer responsible for monitoring the progress of sponsored children in her community, Haya Fanoun also received community health worker training from World Vision on appropriate health practices, as part of the health and sponsorship integration project for World Vision Jerusalem-West Bank-Gaza (WV JWG).
This 34-year old mother of four from the Bethlehem village of Nahhaline is now a peer educator and an active member of her community. "In this training, I learned that salt on the umbilical cord is not helpful or necessary practice for newborn care,” she says. “I still feel the pain of my baby’s death, but I now know that I don\'t need to feel guilty. Now, I can share this knowledge with other women in my community."
This 34-year old mother of four from the Bethlehem village of Nahhaline is now a peer educator and an active member of her community
This is just one example of how the integration of programmes like health and child sponsorship makes a difference in the lives of community volunteers and the families of registered children.
Programme integration is a key focus of the Jump Start Initiative (JSI). The initiative aims to build an initial platform to launch and expand quality programmes to improve maternal and child health. One of the main objectives of the initiative is the integration of health programming into other World Vision programming sectors, such as child sponsorship.
Now, we can see the change whenever we meet with mothers. We hear their wonderful stories on how this initiative changed their lives, and this integration is what made it all possible.
In World Vision Jerusalem-West Bank-Gaza, the integration of child sponsorship and advocacy begins with the staff and volunteers. Staff who are focused on sponsorship also have a health component to their job descriptions. From the beginning of the initiative, staff have been involved in capacity building events on maternal and child health and nutrition topics. They also assisted in the implementation of project activities in the communities where they operate as sponsorship monitors.
“I can’t describe my feelings, especially when I see the passionate community health workers not only doing their jobs, but also providing so many other services,” explains Hana Al Rabadi, World Vision’s Nutrition and Health Coordinator. “Now, we can see the change whenever we meet with mothers. We hear their wonderful stories on how this initiative changed their lives, and this integration is what made it all possible.”
Today, staff continue to work with the families of registered children, providing counseling and promoting key practices on maternal and child health in addition to their regular child monitoring work.
Staff feel that this approach is helping them build stronger relationships with the families. “Before JSI we were doing mechanical work-- taking the child’s photo, filling out the history form and making regular monitoring visits,” says Hiba Mohammad, Sponsorship Coordinator for World Vision’s Bethlehem ADP.
“Because of the new role and understanding of maternal and child health and nutrition, however, we are able to promote essential practices such as breastfeeding and timely immunisation, and prevent malpractices such as salt bathing and early initiation of complementary feeding. Mothers seek and follow our advice.”
Like Haya Fanoun, at least half of the sponsorship monitors are young mothers, and they apply this new knowledge to their own families. Their self-esteem and satisfaction from their work continues to increase immensely from day to day.
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This 34-year old mother of four from the Bethlehem village of Nahhaline is now a peer educator and an active member of her community. "In this training, I learned that salt on the umbilical cord is not helpful or necessary practice for newborn care,” she says. “I still feel the pain of my baby’s death, but I now know that I don\'t need to feel guilty. Now, I can share this knowledge with other women in my community."
This 34-year old mother of four from the Bethlehem village of Nahhaline is now a peer educator and an active member of her community
This is just one example of how the integration of programmes like health and child sponsorship makes a difference in the lives of community volunteers and the families of registered children.
Programme integration is a key focus of the Jump Start Initiative (JSI). The initiative aims to build an initial platform to launch and expand quality programmes to improve maternal and child health. One of the main objectives of the initiative is the integration of health programming into other World Vision programming sectors, such as child sponsorship.
Now, we can see the change whenever we meet with mothers. We hear their wonderful stories on how this initiative changed their lives, and this integration is what made it all possible.
In World Vision Jerusalem-West Bank-Gaza, the integration of child sponsorship and advocacy begins with the staff and volunteers. Staff who are focused on sponsorship also have a health component to their job descriptions. From the beginning of the initiative, staff have been involved in capacity building events on maternal and child health and nutrition topics. They also assisted in the implementation of project activities in the communities where they operate as sponsorship monitors.
“I can’t describe my feelings, especially when I see the passionate community health workers not only doing their jobs, but also providing so many other services,” explains Hana Al Rabadi, World Vision’s Nutrition and Health Coordinator. “Now, we can see the change whenever we meet with mothers. We hear their wonderful stories on how this initiative changed their lives, and this integration is what made it all possible.”
Today, staff continue to work with the families of registered children, providing counseling and promoting key practices on maternal and child health in addition to their regular child monitoring work.
Staff feel that this approach is helping them build stronger relationships with the families. “Before JSI we were doing mechanical work-- taking the child’s photo, filling out the history form and making regular monitoring visits,” says Hiba Mohammad, Sponsorship Coordinator for World Vision’s Bethlehem ADP.
“Because of the new role and understanding of maternal and child health and nutrition, however, we are able to promote essential practices such as breastfeeding and timely immunisation, and prevent malpractices such as salt bathing and early initiation of complementary feeding. Mothers seek and follow our advice.”
Like Haya Fanoun, at least half of the sponsorship monitors are young mothers, and they apply this new knowledge to their own families. Their self-esteem and satisfaction from their work continues to increase immensely from day to day.
-Ends-
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