The effectiveness of the Competence Approach in the struggle against Malaria

In order to stimulate awareness and to awaken this ‘intelligence that lies asleep in communities’, the Togolese Red Cross exploits all of the existing methods of communication within in its own network and all of the structures that are in place in communities:

1. At regional scale: the regional coordinators of the Red Cross (employees)
2. At district scale: the district Red Cross coaches (employees in some districts, volunteers in others).
3. At community scale:
   ... local Red Cross coaches (all volunteers). In a village, the local coach is the volunteer who coordinates the activities of the different Red Cross groups : prevention, first aid, etc. He gets a three days training to preventing and treating malaria, including a whole day on self assessment.

           ...the  different groups of Red Cross Volunteers
                                the Village Development Committee
                                the drama group
                                and above all, the Club for Mothers.

This last one represents truly a political choice as Blaise Sedoh explains, “The Togolese Red Cross has chosen the creation of groups of women as the lever for development.”

Today, there are nearly 700 Red Cross Clubs for Mothers in the whole country ranging in size from 30 to 70 women. More than half of the clubs have already done their Self Assessment for Malaria Competence and are now implementing their Action Plan.

“This practice has truly helped us to integrate women in the search for solutions,” remarks Gladys Tay-Agbobli, who gives support to these clubs throughout the country. “Now, it is the women who look for ways to protect the health of their children. And their own health too! For if the mother gets sick, the whole family is sick!”

Aziawo Kokou, district coach of Zio South (Maritime region), can’t stop singing the praises of the Club for Mothers in Bolougan. “Before we started working together, women in this village thought that malaria was a matter of witchcraft. But once they understood what it really is, they decided to act. At the beginning, they didn’t have the money to buy bednets, so they started to cultivate  maize and manioc in a community field, and eventually they bought bednets with the income from the sale of these products.”

In  Gboto Assingamé (Maritime Region) the thirty women from the Club for Mothers welcomed us warmly one evening. They all held their copy of the Self Assessment framework.  “It is our guide!” exclaimed Mrs Katerita. “We refer to it when we meet every Thursday. Children read it to their illiterate parents. It helps us to decide what we are going to do during the week to fight malaria.” And this is how they decided that each of them would contribute 40 CFA Francs every fortnight. With this money, they buy ten bednets every month.

Also, they systematically visit families to inform them and to convince them to use bednets. “Some sorcerers had forbidden their wives to sleep under the bednets, but this is over now."

Kokoko Gapoti, a great and respected sorcerer in the village brings confirmation. “In the past, many persons were sick because of malaria. Women did not go to antenatal visits. There were many miscarriages and also many deaths among young children. Since we started to discuss this together, there have been no more miscarriages. Pregnant women go to their antenatal visit every 3 months. I brought my own wife to the visit.”