Construire des communautés en bonne santé

ADRA Ethiopia has been delivering health and nutrition to vulnerable people throughout Ethiopia for generations, by focusing on improving health and nutrition to those who need it most. Most recently, ADRA Ethiopia has worked with communities to increase their capacity of managing acute malnutrition (Community Management of Acute Malnutrition – CMAM) and to encourage behavior change through nutrition education. Additionally, ADRA Ethiopia has implemented targeted supplementary feeding programs (TSFP) that aim at preventing women and children from becoming malnourished. Focus is given to those vulnerable populations such as children under five years of age and women who are pregnant or lactating and are showing signs of moderate malnutrition.  ADRA Ethiopia is working with especially vulnerable households to increase their access to milk through the provision of pregnant goats. 

In addition to addressing immediate nutritional needs and building the capacity for CMAM, ADRA Ethiopia has worked to address other health issues across the country such as HIV/AIDS, Family Planning (FP), Reproductive Health (RH), Mother and Child Health (MCH) and Harmful Cultural Practices (HCP). ADRA Ethiopia has addressed these issues through increasing community awareness, capacity building of existing medical services and facilitating relationships between the community and existing medical systems.  

Community Awareness

ADRA Ethiopia raised community awareness through the training and support of Community Volunteers (CVs) and Community Based Rural Health Agents (CBRHAs), ADRA Ethiopia has helped to create community awareness regarding the facts and myths about HIV/AIDs and methods for caring for the terminally ill, as well as promoting good practices regarding family planning, maternal health, and hygiene.

Additionally, ADRA has helped form income generating activity (IGA) cooperatives among HIV positive individuals supporting them with seed money and training to enable them to start their own small businesses like goat fattening and grain milling. Additionally, ADRA Ethiopia has worked with women’s groups to promote intergenerational dialogue on a variety of health topics including Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and other Harmful Traditional Practices (HTP).

Capacity Building of Medical Services

Early on, ADRA Ethiopia supported rural clinics and health posts by providing contraceptive pills and condoms. Over time, the government has taken on these responsibilities and ADRA Ethiopia is working with Health Extension Workers (HEWs) and other medical personnel on supply management, patient care, and documentation and reporting issues.

In the past few years ADRA Ethiopia has increased its effort to support capacity building within the health system by supporting two hospitals through the purchase of medical equipment (especially targeting MCH), coordinating intensive training for medical professionals, and improving their access to the most current information and research in the field. ADRA Ethiopia has also supported rural clinics by providing training for health professionals; coordinating monthly specialist trips from the urban hospital; and providing facility upgrades such as running water, electricity, and incinerators for the proper disposal of medical waste. More recently, ADRA Ethiopia handed over the keys for a 65 seater bus to Yirgalem Medical College. Additionally, ADRA assisted in the completion of the college’s microbiology laboratory by providing much needed specialty equipment. The provision of these services will not only enhance the quality of education provided by the college but will also enhance the quality of health services long term.