PPMV TURNS COMMUNITY MOBILIZER IN UMUNNEOCHI, ABIA STATE

Mrs. Obiageri Okolie, a middle aged woman, a Patent Medicine Dealer, at Obulo Nneato, in Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia State runs one of our Global Fund Malaria outlets. She trained in 2010 and has been receiving ACTs since then.
Her commitment to the project comes through in the way she coordinates all the other outlets in her LGA to ensure that they are keeping to the rules guiding the project.

The picture below shows how she has taken it upon herself to sensitise the women of her community on malaria issues and also educate them on ACTs. In the picture, she is holding the ACT samples in her hand to buttress her points, and is also clutching her PPMV Toolkit provided by the GF Malaria project. This shows community members where she is coming from. According to her, she knew her people were in need and because she talks to them in their local dialect, she knows what their perceptions of malaria have been before now, and they can understand her when she tries to clear up any misunderstanding they have about the disease. She has been able to clear and correct their misconceptions about Malaria and also emphasize the prevention and treatment of malaria.
When asked what motivated her to take the bold step, she said she has watched her people over time doing the wrong thing and with the 2 trainings she has had on Malaria, she felt it was time for her to intervene. She is happy to have become an agent of change in her community by making time out to talk to not only those people who come to her shop to buy the drugs, but other members of the community.

By: Ngozi Noel-Ogamba, GFM Coordinator, Imo & Abia State