In case you didn’t know, today is International Women’s Day! Women are so important in the communities where we work, and we’ve seen the enormous impact that empowering women can have on the health of the community. We want to celebrate by sharing with you the story of Kone, a MAP trained community health worker in Cote d’Ivoire who is vital to the mothers in her community.
Meet Kone Fanta. Kone is 61 years old mother of 3 and grandmother of five She has 3 children and 5 grandchildren. Kone is a MAP trained Community Health Worker in Cote d’Ivoire. She works with the medical staff at the local health clinic, which MAP supported by strengthening the clinics capacity to deliver obstetrical care.
When Kone was a young girl, she worked alongside her grandmother and learned the art of midwifery. This experience showed Kone the very real dangers involved in at home births. She has committed herself to educating women about the benefits of visiting clinics for prenatal consultations and deliveries as well as encouraging families to bring newborns the clinic for immunizations.
Kone’s actions have helped increase the number of women coming to the community clinic for delivery by 30%. This past year 600 came to the clinic for services at the referral of Kone. Kone has increased the communities’ confidence in the clinics’ work and thereby saved countless lives of women and children in her village.
She has been given the nickname “Djuédjuéssi” meaning “fire” because of her frankness towards men who discourage women to follow her advice.
And for more information about International Women’s Day, go to: http://www.internationalwomensday.com/
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Linda
