MTN brings health services to Fort Beaufort community

People living in rural communities across South Africa face multiple challenges every day. Cycles of poverty are exacerbated by high rates of unemployment, lack of infrastructure and poor economic development. Basic services such as healthcare are often lacking, or situated so far away that villagers have to walk many kilometres to reach them.

MTN SA Foundation believes that access to healthcare is of critical importance to the development of the community; and that by implementing projects at three levels, namely disease prevention, treatment, and care and support, overall community health can be improved.

As part of this objective, the Foundation offered the Fort Beaufort community in Eastern Cape an opportunity to screen for lifestyle diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and HIV, conducted in partnership with the local clinic, hospital and NGOs.

“Good health, dependable infrastructure, quality education and opportunities for entrepreneurship is all necessary for individuals, families and ultimately, the stability of the entire community,” said Eunice Maluleke, Head of MTN SA Foundation.

Other basic government services, such as grant application, birth registration, counselling services and ID application were available to the community on the day in partnership with the department of Home Affairs. As part of the government legislation, the community will also be encouraged to register (RICA) their mobile phones.

The activities for the day will also include a certificate ceremony for the home-based care workers who attended an accredited community care worker course funded by the Foundation.

“The introduction of school-based programmes empowers learners with the knowledge and skills to prevent among others, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse and HIV, enabling them to make informed decisions about their lives,” echoed Eunice.

The training is aligned to the Life Orientation curriculum and with the trained learner peer educators from high schools and educators who attend the workshops, it is estimated that with each peer educator reaching a minimum of 10 learners, 12 000 people were reached during 2009.

“The Eastern Cape launch is the forth in a series of provincial launches of the Foundation's Integrated Development Model, which sees the implementation of health, entrepreneurship, arts and culture and education programmes in selected communities in the six provinces (Limpopo, Free State, North West, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Mpumalanga). As a three-year social development commitment, the initiative aims to deliver maximum benefit to impoverished communities,” continued Eunice.

The training of community care workers on the accredited Home-Based Care Course will help address the shortage of nurses and overloading of hospitals by patients suffering from chronic diseases. The programmes are aimed at up-skilling community care workers to be confident and knowledgeable in their work. Last year both theory and practical training was completed within the Fort Beaufort community.

“A whole-community approach does not only target the next generation. Our interventions at school level helps to highlight where the greatest needs lie in the rest of the community, and inform the kinds of projects that we will implement. While schools are our entry point, it is our aim to build infrastructure, increase capacity and create economic opportunities that will benefit every communities,” concluded Eunice.