JamboMama! pilot in Bunda ending


The one year pilot project in Bunda has now come to an end. Though we couldn’t go and see for ourselves due to Corona travel restrictions, we know from ongoing backstopping that a foundation has been laid on which we should now build further.

If the authorities agree, we want to consolidate first what has been started in the dispensaries and wards around Kibara hospital, where the pilot has been implemented. Then expand to all the other wards in the project area not yet reached with the limited resources available. From there we hope to cover the entire Bunda district and simultaneously start introducing the app also in Mwanza town and Ukerewe district.

We thank Bernadetha Francis wholeheartedly for her coordination of the pioneer project. On a small budget she was asked to accomplish a lot. She managed to put JamboMama! on the district map, and the population, the first line clinic attendants and community health workers, got the hang of the mind shift JamboMama! stands for: look at it from the pregnant mother’s position.

Does she understand? Are we respectful? Is the advice doable for her, given poverty, low education, remoteness of her village? The district medical authorities have also been supportive of the project from the beginning. It was a great opportunity for public-private partnership towards the common goal of reducing maternal and infant mortality in a rural district. Thank you Bernadetha, for what you achieved thus far.

We also thank Deograstias Katonyella, who has been a knowledgeable adviser all throughout. He is now assisting at the proper closing of the first project in Bunda, so that we learn the lessons to be learnt. He is also promoting interest in the app in Mwanza and Ukerewe, thus laying the foundation for extension to the Mwanza region.

The start of the second phase, subject to approval by the medical authorities, will be based on the release of the remake of the app by Dure Technologies. It is a work in progress, expected to be finalised before the end of June. It looks good! Robust, simple and great new functionalities that really empower the mothers and first line health workers. It is a Management Information System (MIS) for the mothers and the medics at the ready in the palm of their hands.

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