CARING FOR SENIORS | SOFALA

Activists travel more than 40km to offer help – Caia village

Rosa is an activist who works in home care, traveling daily miles to visit patients, bring medicines, talk to them and their families. Rosa is a member of the Mbaticoyane association and the Integrated Care and Domiciliary Health Awareness program founded in 2017 in the district of Caia by the CAM - Consórcio Associações com Moçambique.

The 22 CDI activists, accompanied by 2 supervisors and 1 nurse, provide monthly follow-up of about 100 severe patients in their home, providing basic care and assistance to patients in stages 3 and 4 of HIV, providing psychosocial support to bedridden and Other chronic diseases, sensitizing patients and their families in nutritional education and right observation of treatment. IDUs give lectures, raise patients' medicines and take the most serious ones to health facilities.

Each activist theoretically covers an area of ​​5 km, but in practice reaches more than 10 km for follow-up, up to 40 km to take patients in the hospital. The roads to reach the hospital are in poor condition, full of potholes and depressions and during the rainy season forms streams that prevent the passage. For this service two "ambulance stretchers" connected to bicycles are used: the bicycles currently used, however, are very old and unreliable, they break very frequently.

Founded in 2009, the Mbaticoyane Association has 43 members, 22 of whom are Integrated Domiciliary Care (CDI) activists and are operators in Casa da Saúde. It was created to promote the physical well-being and social integration of people with chronic diseases (HIV and AIDS), disabled people and orphaned children. It also develops awareness and dissemination actions on disease transmission and prevention.

This project will provide:

• 32 Bicycles
• Transport to Caia Village in Caia District
• Spare parts and accessories (Led Light, Pumps and tools)
• Basic training on bicycle care and maintenance
• Training of a Bicycle Mechanic, including a FULL SET of tools