Denis Onyango and Steve Wonder are longtime staff members at the WiRED International medical and health education center located in the informal settlements or slums in Obunga, Kenya. What follows are their testimonials on the impact that WiRED-trained community health workers are having on their community.
WiRED International will run a story the first week of every month listing health observances of national and global concern. Each topic can be explored further by clicking on WiRED’s related module(s) listed below. Every module is free of charge and can be downloaded onto computers, tablets and phones.
Update on WiRED Community Health Workers in Kenya CHWs Continue to Grow in Knowledge and Experience Despite a Challenging Year By: Jessie Crowdy; Edited by Allison Kozicharow WiRED International brought our Community Health Worker (CHW) Training Program to Kisumu, Kenya, in 2020. Since then, CHWs have been actively tending to the health of the populations […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, children are asking questions. At home, in the classroom, through the news and social media, they are hearing words such as “virus,” “immunity’ and “vaccine” and wondering what they mean.
Scientists all over the world reacted quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic and created a number of vaccines to curb this modern day plague. Unfortunately, because of the unprecedented nature of its scope and challenges, the distribution of the vaccine has proved slow and disorganized. What’s more, many people are confused by unclear information and worry about vaccine safety or even if they should get the shot at all.
At the start of each year since 1999, we have released the plans that guide WiRED International’s efforts for the next 12 months. Last year our objective was to launch a major new community health worker (CHW) training program. After COVID-19 struck, we had to make a number of mid-course corrections to stay on track. By the end of 2020, though, we met our goals to test the CHW training program in four countries. That success was due to the flexibility of a small and nimble organization, good working relationships with partners abroad and, admittedly, a bit of luck.
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, WiRED International is pleased to have achieved many goals, especially the launch of our life-saving Community Health Worker (CHW) Training Program in four countries — our largest and most ambitious project to date and several years in the making. CHWs fill in the gaps in low-resource regions where doctors and nurses are scarce, and provide a critical link between the medical community and populations in desperate need of clinical services and prevention training.
This December members of the WiRED International community contributed “lunch money” donations to the Sunshine-Mitzvah Fund in order to purchase groceries and Christmas treats for more than 200 families in Kisumu, Kenya, where our community health workers provide their medical and health services.
For years, WiRED has collected small amounts of money from Board members and friends for what we call the Sunshine-Mitzvah Fund (see sidebar). Sister Bernadette Nealon and her staff at several clinical centers in Kisumu, who use WiRED’s health education programs, have covered small necessities needed by the local population with these funds. These supplements include money for medications, food for hungry children and rides to a hospital for the sick who would otherwise have to walk.
2020. The year of COVID-19. Although we at WiRED International know that the pandemic will not end soon, we are heartened by the generosity and dedication we have seen throughout the year from friends, neighbors, colleagues, healthcare workers, essential workers everywhere and in the WiRED community. Our common humanity continues to be tested as we realize our individual health depends on global health.
As the COVID-19 vaccine distribution rolls out in countries around the world, many of us have questions. Is it safe? Should I get it at all?
The global race to develop an effective COVID-19 vaccine has been swift and fierce — arguably the most massive effort humans have ever mounted against a disease. Now that vaccines exist and have passed through clinical trials for safety and effectiveness, the majority of people have to get vaccinated for the world to be rid of this deadly disease. As long as the virus lives in the human population, it will continue as a threat.