SDG Goals & Real Life Development Challenges in Zambia
“The reality in Africa and in developing countries, is the whole access side of things. These women would like to come to receive services, but they are not able to because of the terrain, because of the distances.“
In October, Johnson & Johnson’s Achieng Masiga, Program Manager, Corporate Contributions, Maternal & Child Health Programs, Sub-Saharan Africa traveled to Zambia to witness CMMB programs in action: first in the capital city of Lusaka and its environs, and then in rural Mwandi, about two hours by car from the Victoria Falls. During Immersion Week, Masiga and other CMMB partners had the opportunity to engage with representatives from the Zambian Ministry of Health, local hospital administrators, community healthcare workers, CMMB staff and beneficiaries.
Zambia is a country with both extreme natural beauty and extreme poverty. CMMB’s CHAMPS initiative (Children And Mothers Partnerships) serves the women and children in rural Mwandi. The CHAMPS model enables US-based health systems and corporate partners to explore greater global mission engagement. Masiga said, “I know the work CHAMPS is doing in Kenya with CMMB, and so I wanted to see what the CHAMPS program was all about.”
CMMB asked Masiga to share some thoughts about her Immersion Week experiences in Zambia. She explained, “We obviously don’t have our own programs so we depend on the CMMB and others to be able to achieve the goals we have in those areas. J&J has committed itself to five of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and one of them is women and children. And everything that I’ve seen about the work that CMMB is doing is in the area of women and children, so it definitely resonates.”
“The reality in Africa and in developing countries is the whole access side of things. These women would like to come to receive services, but they are not able to because of the terrain, because of the distances. The work that’s going on at the Mwandi Mission Hospital and the community work beats it all. The hospitals are necessary, but without what the communities are doing: reaching out, talking to the women, bringing them to the hospitals. That just blew my mind, such jovial, happy men and women who are reaching out and doing this work with all their hearts. They have a passion I don’t even see among people who are earning six-figure salaries.”
“I think CMMB is challenging governments and provincial administrations to up their game. When we visited the new mothers’ shelter (for pregnant women waiting to give birth) that CMMB built at Situlu, the message was clear, “We are able to put up this shelter, but we hand it over to you. It’s not ours to keep.” That is what brings about sustainability, CMMB’s “take it and run with it” message to the community. I think that model is amazing.”