Literacy Bridge
From Ghana’s capital of Accra, it takes an average of 14 to 18 hours by bus to get to Ghanaian villages in the Upper West Region, where Literacy Bridge’s work is focused. An average of 500 to 900 people live in each of these villages without running water or electricity, and little, if any access, to medical care. Health care facilities are generally hours away by foot. Motor vehicles are a rarity.
Family homes are typically composed of two or three small one-room buildings made out of mud brick with straw roofs and dirt floors. Each area has its purpose. It serves as sleeping quarters and/or living and cooking areas. Areas usually covered by bushes outside of the compound serve as toilet facilities. Subsistence farming is the way of life and the source of food and income for every family.
Dapuoha Household
Dapuoha was one of three such villages where we launched Phase I of our maternal and child health program this past September. Households in Dapuoha consist of six to 17 people per household with anywhere between one and nine children per household under the age of five. The majority of the adults have had very little, if any, formal education. Malaria and diarrhea are the most common illnesses and the most common cause of death in their children.
The purpose of the maternal and child health program is to reduce and, ultimately, eliminate the number of preventable deaths in pregnant women and young children, particularly in low-literate, remote rural communities. Given that seven doctors serve 600,000 people living in the Upper West Region of Ghana, our program targets villages with little or no access to doctors or health clinics. This ratio is striking when compared to an average of 1872 doctors per 600,000 people in the United States or an average of 2000 doctors per 600,000 in Europe.
Mothers and their families in the Dapuoha community received strategic health and nutrition information in the form of songs, stories and messages recorded on the Talking Book through the maternal and child health program. Mothers and their families are listening to the Talking Book messages and learning practical ways to keep their children and themselves healthy and safe. See our Ghana Country Director’s blog for more information.
Mothers and their families in Dapuoha
Phase I of the Maternal and Child Health Program has ended. Lessons learned from Dapuoha and the other three villages during the first phase of the maternal and child health program will be incorporated in Phase II, which is underway. A large number of remote rural villages are currently being surveyed to determine if they meet the criteria for maternal and child health program – that is, a large number of families with pregnant women and young children under the age of five, low-literacy rates and little or no access to doctors or health clinics. From the qualifying communities, we will randomly select 20 villages to participate in Phase II of the maternal and child health program, which will undergo rigorous evaluation to determine program effectiveness and cost effectiveness.
More information on the communities selected and families involved will be forthcoming in upcoming issues of our e-newsletter. Meanwhile, our thanks to the legions of Literacy Bridge supporters whose generous gifts make programs, like the maternal and child health program, possible. Click here to join in this important effort.