6th

May 2013

Shimoni Hub
Monitoring growth and health of more than 200 children
Over the course of two months, in partnership with local health groups, GVI volunteers specialising in
preventative health weighed and recorded information on over 200 children in the Shimoni sub location.
Recording information about height, weight and physical appearance allows community health workers to
monitor the health of each child. This is also a prime opportunity to find out whether each child has been fully
vaccinated. Those that need further medical care are then referred to the relevant health care facility.
The GVI Health Project is based in the Shimoni Sub Location which is a small group of villages located on a
15km in length peninsular in the Coast Province of Kenya, only 30km north of the Tanzanian border. There is a
rapidly increasing population of over 4,000 residents, most of whom earn a living from fishing in the rich
waters of the Indian Ocean on which the main village of Shimoni is located. There are a number of public
health issues affecting people living in the Shimoni area, many of which are preventable diseases, including
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. GVI have been working closely with the Public Health Officer and
community health groups to assist with local efforts to tackle public health issues.
Local health group SAFE Shimoni focuses on tackling public health issues through education. Every month
they lead a number of outreaches in communities in the Shimoni Sub Location. Outreaches are public
workshops which focus on a particular health issue, educating community members through interactive
methods. This form of education has proven to be a very successful method of public health intervention.
Knowledge gives people the power to make informed choices about their lives and therefore actively reduces
the occurrence of public health conditions, whilst at the same time encouraging people to seek professional
medical attention where necessary.
Outreaches also act as a prime opportunity to monitor the health of residents in the area. Growth monitoring
outreaches are one such occasion. Infants and children are brought to be weighed, their height measured and
details recorded and stored at the Shimoni Public Dispensary. Over the past six weeks along with many games
of hide and seek, peekaboo and out of tune singing, GVI volunteers have assisted our partners to monitor over
200 children in five villages in the Shimoni sub location. Nineteen children out of 229 were found to be
severely underweight. The children have been referred to the local dispensary for further monitoring and
treatment. The community health workers will also work closely with each family to educate them about
good nutrition. This form of public health intervention empowers families to ensure their children receive
good nutrition and remain in good health.
There is something really satisfying about seeing all those families bring their children to be weighed and their
health monitored. Everyone is there for the same common goal to ensure the health of the younger
generation is secure. I feel so proud to have been a part of this. (Mwinyiisa Kopa Mchasa Health Project

Field Staff and member of SAFE Shimoni)

Growth monitoring outreaches are examples of simple measures that can be taken to ensure each child is
healthy and receives medical attention where necessary. Finding cases of malnutrition enables our partners
to educate local communities about the importance of breast feeding and good nutrition, reducing the
incidence of cases in the future. Each outreach attended furthers our partners efforts to improve public
health for all residents in the Shimoni area. If you would like to read more about this project and sign up to
volunteer please visit our website, check out our blog, follow us on twitter and like our facebook page for the
latest up to date information straight from the field.

David and Kopa record measurements

Volunteer Christine Kong trying to make the quite scary weighing process much more fun for the children

Kopa, David and Christine with children from Anziwani

David and Christine record measurements at an outreach