Health volunteers travel 2 hours to promote healthcare in Bauchi
By Amina Ahmed
Community health volunteers in Ganjuwa Local Government Area (LGA) of Bauchi State say some of their members travel up to two hours by motorbike to reach pregnant women in remote communities.
They do so to promote access to essential healthcare services, especially for women and children in hard-to-reach areas.
Mrs Rabi Yusuf, leader of the Mama2Mama volunteer group, made this known during an interaction with the UNICEF Country Representative, Ms. Wafaa Saeed, at the Ganjuwa Local Government Council.
Mama2Mama is a grassroots initiative focused on improving maternal and child health, including nutrition awareness, across underserved communities.
According to Yusuf, women and children in hard-to-reach areas face serious health risks, requiring urgent intervention.
She listed some of the most difficult areas to reach as Ringim, Marmasa, and Kola.
“We travel on motorbike for two hours to reach some communities, just to mobilise them and make referrals.
“We have our register, but funding is our biggest challenge. We even contribute money before each outreach,” she explained.
Sharing her experience, Mrs Amina Ahmed, team lead for Village Community Mobilisers (VCM), said her group conducted house-to-house visits three times a week, reaching an average of 100 people weekly.
Similarly, Mr Abdullahi Lawal, Chairman of the Father of Good Health group, said that within six months, they resolved more than 80 cases of non-compliance with healthcare recommendations, many referred by the Mama2Mama team.
However, Lawal highlighted that logistics remained a major obstacle, and appealed for capacity-building support to improve their effectiveness in engaging and educating local residents.
Earlier, UNICEF’s Country Representative, Saeed, commended the dedication and community-driven approach of the health volunteers.
She encouraged continued collaboration to ensure that women and children in Ganjuwa had consistent access to healthcare, education, clean water, hygiene, and nutrition services.
