Today we visited Rokonta community health clinic and spoke to a CHO and 3 CHWs. The CHO has been working at the clinic for the past 6 years and lives on site. She told us that right now the clinic is very slow because of the rainy season. People don’t want to visit the clinic because of how hard it is to travel and the conditions of the roads. She currently travels to Makeni weekly to report what’s been happening in her clinic, also to voice the concerns and challenges of the 12 CHWs she manages.

pictured: The CHO

The clinic does not have a lab, however they still screen for HIV, Malaria, and UTIs. They cannot do complicated diseases such as typhoid, they must refer for that. She raised some concerns about our venture when we told her that CHWs will be charging women 1000 leones for a strip. She stated that women will likely not pay because of the free healthcare that lactating mothers receive. We must do a lot of community engagement and sensitization in order for women to understand the importance of being screened.

Most of the conversation with the CHWs was dominated by the CHO. When we asked the CHWs anything, she always intervened and spoke over them. However, we did get a little bit of information from them. Two of them have been working since 2016 and the other since 2013. The challenges they face are late stipends, lack of supplies for first aid/malaria treatment and reluctance of their community members to come to the clinic.

Pictured: The three CHWs

When we got back from the clinic, Khanjan treated us with Indian food from Freetown and it was delicious!