How a mobile app is improving childhood health

Despite a sharp decline in child mortality rates during the past few decades, nearly 200,000 Ethiopian children under age 5 still die each year from preventable illnesses. Ethiopia has ambitious plans to lower child mortality rates using local health extension workers (HEWs) and mobile phones that can serve as virtual medical guidebooks. But how do you ensure health workers in isolated rural areas are trained and have the appropriate, easy-to-access information on their phones?

WEEMA and a healthcare nonprofit, D-Tree International, jumped in to fill this void. They designed a user-friendly mobile application with easy-to-use information, including videos, for diagnosing and treating pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and other common childhood illnesses. Now, with additional funding from the IZUMI Foundation, we are training and supporting HEWs and supervisors to use these mobile tools in clinics across the Tembaro and Hadero Woredas in southwestern Ethiopia.

All 100 of the HEWs in the two Woredas are now using the technology and more than 4,000 young children have been assessed and treated using the tool.

The result is healthier children – and happier healthcare workers.

At a meeting earlier this month, health worker Mimmi Wolde cringed as she recalled using thick log books and chart books every time she met with a young patient. “We were using a log book which was the size of a table,” said Wolde, who works in the Hadero Woreda.

With the mobile tool, she works more efficiently and effectively. “This tool guides me to not make a mistake,” she said. “The application gives the disease classification and the appropriate treatment. I am only expected to correctly check the symptoms that a child has, like a cough and diarrhea.”

HEWs in the Tembaro Woreda tell similar stories. Ababa Gisaw recalled avoiding a mistake in treating a 30-month-old child with a 102.7-degree temperature. “The mobile tool guided me to give paracetamol, but (without the application), I would have prescribed Coartum (used for malaria),” she said.

Preventable illnesses such as diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria cause 35 percent of deaths in children under five in Ethiopia. Research shows that appropriately trained, supervised and supported healthcare workers can avert more than 60 percent of these preventable deaths.

WEEMA is now expanding this mobile health program to three additional districts. The Ethiopian government has also asked us to share our experiences and advice to improve their rollout of the digital tool to health extension workers across Ethiopia.

Congratulations to our youngest graduates!

Delivering Early Education to 800 Ethiopian Children

Berhanu was beaming with pride as he rushed onto the stage with everyone in the room clapping. With the yellow tassel on his graduation cap bouncing in the air, he grabbed the microphone and launched into his 20-second speech. It was a big day last month: he and 272 other children – 135 boys, 138 girls – were graduating from Kindergarten to Primary One.

Early childhood education in the Tembaro Woreda, where Berhanu lives, is a rarity. For children living in remote rural areas, kindergarten facilities are simply too far away to get to.
 
As a result, they are missing out on critical early education that can make them more successful later in life. As recently as 2012-13, less than 5 percent of children ages 4 to 6 in the Southern Nations, Nationality and People’s Region (where Tembaro is located) were attending kindergarten. Research shows that Ethiopian children with a preschool education consistently score higher on vocabulary tests and other key cognitive skills than those who don’t attend preschool.
    
For the past few years, WEEMA has been working closely with communities – Mudula, Keleta and Ferzano – and the Woreda Education Office to close this education gap. With additional facilities, equipment, and supplies – as well as food to feed the children – we have enabled thousands of young children to advance through Kindergarten 1, 2, and 3, thus giving them a better chance to thrive at primary school.
    
Last month, at three ceremonies, we saw 268 children graduate from KG1, 283 from KG2 and 273 from KG3. This year’s events were especially gratifying because the local government is now taking over the three kindergartens built by WEEMA and will deploy the required number of teachers and principals as well. An important moment, in other words, in WEEMA and the Ethiopian government’s shared goal of ensuring early education for all Ethiopians. A local government representative, Mr. Woldemichael, underscored this point in his remarks.
 
The government has made enormous gains on this issue – the national enrollment rate for children 4-6 is over 33 percent, up from 4 percent a decade ago – but nonprofit groups like WEEMA will continue to have a key role in accelerating progress, especially in underserved rural regions like the Tembaro Woreda.
    
WEEMA’s commitment to equitable and quality education continues with the network of libraries, inclusive education, and menstrual health education.

A focus on inclusive education

WEEMA will continue our commitment to empower people with disabilities by constructing ramps in school buildings similar to this one at a WEEMA-sponsored library.

As part of WEEMA’s commitment to people with disabilities, January saw the launch of a new program.  There are 39 primary schools found in Tembaro Woreda where children with disabilities could have access to quality education but currently do not.  These children don’t attend school because of low community awareness and social stigma, absence of inclusive schools, lack of trained special needs education teachers, and limited access to necessary assistive devices. 

Mudula Primary School has been chosen as the target school to implement inclusive education over two years. Teachers, principals, education office experts, parent and teacher associations, community groups, community leaders, and the government sector office are all involved in and committed to the project.

Highlights to date include public awareness raising events for the community members and the government leaders, as well as rigorous training for primary school teachers and staff. Sharing experiences and knowledge as the project progresses is also an important part of the process.

In the second part of the year, more of the visible changes will take place. We will level land around the schools and construct a ramp to create a more child-friendly environment at both the school and the resource center. Classrooms will be equipped with special furniture, a wheelchair and walking sticks, Montessori materials, an abacus, braille paper and books, and equipment to record the lessons will be provided.

When the school year starts in the fall, the teachers will be prepared and the classrooms and facilities will all be ready for the students with disabilities to start school.  We will enroll as many as 50 new students to participate in the inclusive education program. 

With an eye to the future, we are working closely with the district level officials in the Woreda education office responsible for inclusive education. Together we can replicate this important work and implement it at other schools in the Woreda.

Wax printed honeycomb helps WEEMA-funded beekeepers

You may have heard the expression “busy as a bee” and wondered, what is it that bees are so busy doing? As the expression implies, making honey is a very labor-intensive process for bees.

Before bees can even consider making honey, they must build honeycomb.  Honeycomb is a mass of hexagon shaped cells made from wax that serves a dual purpose. The honeycomb is where the queen bee lays her eggs and where the worker bees store the honey they produce. Essentially it is the foundation of the hive. Building the honeycomb is the most energy-consuming and stressful task for the bees. It takes anywhere between three weeks to one month for the bees to produce the honeycomb. The energy required for that production leaves the bees with less time for pollinating and producing honey.  

WEEMA-supported beekeepers are using a unique technique to make this process a whole lot easier - they are using a wax printing machine. The process involves pressing beeswax between patterned metal rollers to create a honeycomb. These are built into a wooden frame which is then inserted into the beehive. Each standard beehive has ten frames of honeycomb. Once the beekeepers print wax for one frame there is no need to print wax again for that frame. The beekeepers sweep the honey from the frame and the frame can be used again and again.

The benefit of using this technique is that the bees are now able to work on producing honey right away versus using their time and energy to make honeycomb. For the beekeepers this means they will be able to harvest honey from their hives more frequently. In other words, more honey - which translates to more profit for our beekeepers.

Run Falmouth Road Race with WEEMA!

Team-A WEEMA 2019 will be gathering August 16-19 for some sun, laughs, bonding and, of course, running Falmouth Road Race. And we want YOU on the team!

We have rented an entire motel directly across from Craigsville Beach, MA starting Friday afternoon.  Pre-race dinner scheduled for Saturday night with run Sunday morning.  Families welcome!   

The race: Set out on the 7-mile race from historic Woods Hole and wind your way through shady woods and alongside the picturesque Nantucket Sound.  

This is WEEMA's biggest annual fundraising event.  All runners are required to raise a minimum of $1,500 to support WEEMA programs.  (Raising money is actually much easier than you think!  Plus you know you will be supporting WEEMA's grassroots work in Southern Ethiopia.)

Questions?  Email lisa@weema.org

Do not miss out- only a few spots left.
SEE YOU IN AUGUST!