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NAMIBIA / HEALTH WORKERS
STORY: NAMIBIA / HEALTH WORKERS
TRT: 3:16
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / OTJIHIMBA / NATS
DATELINE: 4-5 OCTOBER 2012, KUNENE, NAMIBIA
1. Various shots, health extension worker Vemupomambo Tjivinda walking in Kunene region
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Vemupomambo Tjivinda, Health Extension Worker:
“You see this mountain? I will travel from here to on top of that mountain to one homestead. The other homestead is one top of that mountain. From there I cross the river to that mountain again.”
3. Wide shot, Kunene region landscape
4. Med shot, Omuhimba elderly women and boys walking
5. Wide shot, Tjivinda talking with an Omuhimba man
6. Med shot, man pulling water from a well and pouring into a cattle trough
7. Close up, water being poured into trough
8. Pan left, from Kunene region landscape to a homestead
11. Wide shot, a Omuhimba man watching over his cattle
12. Med shot, Tjivinda approaching mother, Uandjenguaije Tjiuharo
13. Med shot, Tjivinda sitting in front of mother, Tjiuharo
14. Close up, Tjiuharo holding her baby
15. Close up, Tjivinda checking the breathing of baby Uateuondjara
16. Tilt down, from mother Tjiuharo to baby Uateuondjara
17. Med shot, Tjivinda consulting his medical book
18. Tilt up, medical book
19. Wide shot, Tjivinda explaining health care to Tjiuharo
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Vemupomambo Tjivinda, Health Extension Worker:
“I feel happy because I help my community. And also this programme has helped me with gaining the skills and experience in the health sector.”
21. Pan right, Tjivinda checking baby Uateuondjara’s temperature
22. Tilt down, from mother Tjiuharo to baby Uateuondjara
23. SOUNDBITE (Otjihimba) Uandjenguaije Tjiuharo, 35 year old mother:
“I am very pleased about this project. I will no longer need to travel a long distance to reach a health facility. I will no longer need to wait for a vehicle and raise money for the journey and food along the way. Instead a health worker is right here within my community.”
24. Pan right, Tjivinda walking along a scenic road
25. Wide shot, Tjivinda walking past an animal carcass
26. SOUNDBITE (English) Micaela Marques de Sousa, UNICEF Country Representative, Namibia:
“By piloting this program in Kunene, in Opuwa region, the 34 health extension workers would actually be the ambassadors, if you will, and Kunene will be the ambassador region to all other twelve regions in Namibia, so that we can take this programme to scale.”
27. Med shot, two boys on a donkey
28. Wide shot, Tjivinda leaving behind a group of Ovahimba people
29. Med shot, Tjivinda walking away
Vemupomambo Tjivinda is among the first batch of recently trained health extension workers in Namibia.
Following a six month training course, Tjivinda’s task is now to bring basic healthcare to under-five year olds in Kunene region.
SOUNDBITE (English) Vemupomambo Tjivinda, Health Extension Worker:
“You see this mountain? I will travel from here to on top of that mountain to one homestead. The other homestead is one top of that mountain. From there I cross the river to that mountain again.”
Mountainous, dry, and sparsely populated, the northwest region of Namibia is home to the nomadic Ovahimba people.
Holding onto their traditional way of life, the Ovahimba are often on the move in search of water for their cattle.
This way of life provides healthcare challenges.
Government reports show that less than one third of Kunene region’s population is being reached through the existing 91 health outreach points.
Skilled birth attendant rates are low, as are under-five immunization completion rates.
The government of Namibia, with the assistance of UNICEF and its partner organisations, are now bridging the gap between health facilities and these mobile communities.
Working within his own community, Tjivinda checks the breathing of this two month old baby. He encourages mothers like Tjiuharo to get their babies vaccinated. He also dispenses advice and provides free medication such as polio drops or vitamin pills.
Tjivinda is at the forefront of ensuring under-five year olds do not become ill or die from preventable illnesses like malaria, measles or diarrhoea.
SOUNDBITE (English) Vemupomambo Tjivinda, Health Extension Worker:
“I feel happy because I help my community. And also this program has helped me with gaining the skills and experience in the health sector.”
Tjivinda continues to check baby’s vital signs and is pleased to see she is healthy.
This check-up has saved Tjiuharo and her infant the 40 kilometre journey to the nearest health clinic.
SOUNDBITE (Otjihimba) Uandjenguaije Tjiuharo, Mother:
“I am very pleased about this project. I will no longer need to travel a long distance to reach a health facility. I will no longer need to wait for a vehicle and raise money for the journey and food along the way. Instead a health worker is right here within my community.”
Health extension workers have already been successfully rolled out in other African countries such as Ethiopia, Eritrea and Malawi.
Now Kunene region is the beginning of a roll out across Namibia.
SOUNDBITE (English) Micaela Marques de Sousa, UNICEF Country Representative, Namibia:
“By piloting this program in Kunene, in Opuwa region, the 34 health extension workers would actually be the ambassadors, if you will, and Kunene will be the ambassador region to all other twelve regions in Namibia, so that we can take this programme to scale.”
Namibia is a signatory to UNICEF’s A Promise Renewed pledge. This means reducing the country’s current under-five mortality rate of 42 in a thousand to under twenty in a thousand by the year 2035.
With health extension workers now providing essential services to the most isolated of communities, attaining this goal looks possible.
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