A few days ago, we gave the walls of the post-natal room at the Ariwa Health Center new life. Now, with a fresh coat of paint, the team imagined what they could do next.
“You can’t imagine the difference some small, small thing, can make in a person’s life.”
One big struggle for the health center is the lack of funds for things like bedsheets and curtains. Patients are asked to bring their own bedsheets from home, carrying them from the house as they rush to the Maternity Ward to give birth.
With that in mind, a solution was simple. Day 23 would be all about getting the things needed to keep women comfortable. Things like sheets, curtains, and pillows.
Joseph, Senior Logistics Coordinator and Changemaker Award Winner, joined the team and jumped on the phone. Straight away he set out plans to source bedsheets from the nearest town that would have them, almost two hours away.
“You can’t imagine the difference some small, small thing, can make in a person’s life,” Joseph said. Then he headed off to retrieve the sheets and purchased mosquito nets, pillows, curtains and pink paint for the IV poles, while he was at it.
The team installed these few simple items that brought the entire room to a place of comfort for new moms. The results were remarkable. The room suddenly felt like a place you might want to close your eyes and rest with your newborn baby.
“Moms are going to want to be the first ones to try these new beds,” Gloria, one of the midwives said. She joked, “Even me, let me deliver so I can rest in one of these beds!”
Now that the Ariwa Health Center is looking like new and ready to welcome a fresh batch of patients, we turn to some of the most vulnerable in Bidi Bidi – people who have trouble getting around on their own. Tune in tomorrow as we give some of the most at-risk refugees a little extra support.
