After two days at Biharamulo we continued to Mugana hospital. It is one of the best hospitals of the country in terms of quality of care and variety of services offered, of hygiene and success rate of treatments. It is run by the Canossian sisters and equipped with solar power. They attract wealthy clients with insurance, but that helps them to also receive the poor patients as the insured patients create a buffer that the sisters use for outreach to the poor.
They were so keen again and started the app up immediately. Asking pertinent questions, making an effort not to give up if you get stuck… our duo Amina and Deo helping them through the registration process. The head sister was of a tremendous support for this two-day launch drive, for she would ask any staff member she met after the demo the following day: did you practice again? Did you share with a colleague? And if they hadn’t, she would insist they do so at the first chance encounter with a colleague that day. This support is really needed to help a public not used to rely on a smartphone and even less on an application to overcome the psychological barrier to it.
This gentle but insistent coaxing is also needed because an app can only stabilise if it is widely used. We all have forgotten the problems we experienced in the past with WhatsApp or other apps that have become common since. This is not only due to our increased abilities but also because the app has undergone and still undergoes, back-end improvements based on user behaviour and user feedback.
The sister had also included a visit to one of their outstations, of which they have almost eighteen, all referring their complex maternity and delivery cases to Mugana hospital. The doctor of the dispensary we visited was delighted with the idea that this app would be used in their outreach system. He uploaded it immediately and our team received several messages from him after we had left to get him through.
We left Mugana and the warm welcome of the Canossian community convinced that JamboMama! will take off successfully there in 2023.