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| Mary Atori and Vincent Amadoi are two of the new local monitors in the area around Acowa. Photo: Mai Gad |
"They are only two weeks old", says the father holding a little girl in his arms. He has twins. "The baby there is our boy, the other twin," he says and smiles and looks proudly at his wife next to him.
Like many other parents, the young couple are seated under a big mango tree next to the health clinic in the village of Acowa in Northern Uganda. Here they find shadow from the burning midday sun while they are waiting for the nurse to call upon them to get their child the immunization vaccine. The families under the mango tree seem relaxed and happy, now the clinic is in walking distance from their home. They are very pleased that there are now vaccines enough for all the children.
Volunteer community monitors
However, this is not the way it has always been in Acowa, Mary Atori explains. She is chosen by the local community leaders to be a ‘local monitor’. The local monitors keep an eye on the government institutions and structures. "Before we did not have a clinic in this area, and we had to walk far to get to the nearest health clinic to get our children vaccinated, and that was if there was even enough vaccines when we got there" the 50-year old Mary Atori explains.
In the area around Acowa a total number of 10 community monitors work on a volunteer basis. The group meets every second week, they share their experiences, concerns and any problems that have been passed on to them by their neighbors in their villages. Then they split up into smaller groups and begin their monitoring visits; in the health clinic, in the local schools, around newly constructed roads, in the government offices and at the local boreholes. If something is not functioning according to what is outlined in the law of public services, they report it to the local government institutions.
More medicine and beds for the sick
The health clinic in Acowa used to be a half empty building without furniture. But since Mary and the rest of the monitors started their monitoring, it has changed.
"Before, we didn’t have any windows in the health clinic, no furniture and poor sanitary conditions, and we didn’t have enough health staff. The nurse would come during the day, whenever she felt like it", Mary explains.
"We reported to the local government and now we have beds in the rooms where mothers deliver, the clinic has been provided with tree to build furniture and now the nurse always comes at seven o clock".
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| The local monitors have secured better conditions, like more beds and medicine. Photo: Mai Gad |
Before we only had medicine enough for a limited number of people and it would not be divided equally by the staff in the health clinic. But now we have made sure that there is more medicine and the monitors are called in, when it is delivered to the health clinic. Then we count, to see if we received what we had been promised, and we make sure that the medicine is equally distributed and divided between the different health centers in the area, and according to the population.
Human Rights on Air
As part of the project, the monitors have one hour of broadcasting in the local radio, Air Teso in Soroti, the nearest big town. Recently Mary was there to discuss services in the health clinics. She talked about the work of the monitors and about the rights of the local people in the community and their rights to health clinics with qualified staff, the right to fair treatment and sufficient and fair and equal distribution of the medicine and quality equipment.
Respect for the Monitors
"Before, whenever the sub county officers passed by to give people instructions, people would just continue whatever they were doing the moment the officers were out of their sight. The children didn’t go to school and the teachers were not serious about their jobs" Mary explains.
"But because the monitors live in the villages, the local community members have no excuse. Now, whenever the children see me or any of the other monitors – they hurry and run to school. People in the village respect us more than the local government because we are neighbors and live door by door," Mary explains.
"When I pass by the school, the girls clap their hands together and call me, they ask me when I will come back to teach them. I don’t have an education, but the training I have received in the monitor group has taught me that I am able to do much more than I thought, and that we have the right to demand certain services from the government", Mary says and smiles.
A Hope for the Future
"The women in my village ask me to continue the work, so we can continue to get good treatment in our health clinic, so our children can go to good schools and so we can drink clean water from the bore holes. My work has changed their mindset. Many of the women would like to join our monitor group. That is positive, we would like to reach out to even more remote areas. In my group we are ten, but in total we are 84 who work in three districts" Mary says, and emphasize that she has made a lot of friends among the monitors.
"Recently, we decided to register as an association with the local government. This gives me hope and a strong belief that our work can continue in the future, because in that way we also receive more respect from the local government".
Mai Gad, DCA Uganda