MALAWI: ECM Donates Bicycles to Community Volunteers
Demetria Banda
Episcopal Conference of Malawi has donated bicycles to community volunteers working under Faith and Community Initiative (FCI) in the area of Traditional Authority Chilipa and Nankumba in Mangochi district.
FCI is a project which aims at reaching 7,000 men and boys aged 15-24 with messages of hope, linking 1,000 HIV positive men and boys to care through expert clients and support groups, distributing 10,000 oral HIV self-test kits and bringing care to lost-to-follow-up HIV positive patients by July 2021 in Mangochi and Machinga districts.
Handing over the donation, Health Programmes coordinator from Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) Ms Mariana Nyawenda said these community volunteers have a very important role to play in the work that FCI does and the bicycles will ease transport.
“ECM is committed to providing health care in local communities through the FCI project while at the same time seeking to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS virus. It was noted that volunteers from Mangochi were not doing well compared to those in Machinga who already have bicycles. That’s why ECM decided to give these bicycles to reduce mobility challenges they were facing when reaching out to clients. These bicycles will ensure wide coverage of HIV message in Mangochi District as volunteers will be able to reach far,” said Nyawenda.
She however urged the volunteers to work tirelessly in order to increase the number of men who go for HIV testing in the district.
A faith leader for Chilipa Charles Richard was happy to receive the bicycle saying that it is going to fasten the work.
“We were limited in terms of the number of people we could reach because some places were very far that we can’t go by foot but am now happy that the bicycles will help us reach those men living far,” said Richard
He added that the remaining challenge for them is how to convince some men and boys who do not understand the importance of knowing their HIV status.
Alick Japani, expert client from Mangochi also hailed ECM for the bicycles saying they will ease their transportation when they are going for patient identification, follow-up and also cleft awareness campaigns.
The Episcopal Conference of Malawi has donated the bicycles to its community volunteers with funding from USAID through Healthy Policy Plus (HP+).
