VUKA’S DELIVERY DRIVE

Vuka Muleya, of Kafue, has a soft spot when it comes to caring for those in his community. He dabbles in small jobs for income and farms to provide food for his family, but his passion is to help people.

“In the past, I saw women suffering in the communities,” says Muleya. Because of traditions, many women stay at home to deliver babies. When complications occur, such as heavy bleeding, the women do not receive proper care. This can be fatal for the mothers or their newborn babies.

Although the under-five mortality rate has dropped by 61 percent in Zambia, the maternal mortality rate stands at 398 per 100,000 live births.

“We were facing a lot of challenges, remembers Grace Momba, a registered Midwife at Kafue Mission Health Centre. When she started at the centre, it only had one delivery bed and two other beds for antenatal and postnatal care. If more than two women in labour arrived at the centre at the same time, one would be taken to a separate building. This made it difficult for the nursing staff because the building did not have the proper equipment.

In 2015, Kafue Mission Health Centre received funding from the European Union, as part of the Millennium Development Goal Initiative (MDGi) to build a new maternity wing. Along with the new additions, the centre also received medical equipment and funding to train staff and volunteers. This addition has not only helped the health centre, it has also impacted the community.

Because of his desire to help women from suffering, Muleya became a community volunteer and now drives a motorbike ambulance to assist women in labour and those who cannot make it to the centre on their own. He also sensitizes communities about the importance of women coming to the clinic for antenatal checkups and to give birth.

Because of the sensitization by the community volunteers like Muleya, Momba is seeing more women using the centre for deliveries. Women are now able to stay under observation at the clinic for 48 hours with their newborn babies to help protect them from infection.

“I feel so proud and happy seeing the mother and baby going home safely,” says Momba.

Client: UNICEF Zambia
Subject: Vuka Muleya, Grace Momba
Location: Kafue, Zambia