Focus 1000 Gives Support To Caf-Sl To Orientate Community Youths On Immunization
On Saturday 18th June, 2016 at the YMCA Conference Hall by the Swimming Pool of the National Stadium, the Children Advocacy Forum Sierra Leone (CAF-SL) with the support of Focus 1000 engages over 50 Participants from different Communities to get them orientated on the coming immunization of the Maternal and Child Health Week (MCHW) that is to commence on the 23rd to 27th June, 2016.
In the programme after the normal protocol was observed meaning the registration, prayers, welcome address and introduction of all present came in the main Focus of the programme being the keynote address and this was done by the Chief Executive Officer of Focus 1000 Mr. Mohamed Bailor Jalloh. In his statement laid emphasis on services given to the Children. Though June 16th globally known for as “African Child’s Day, a day of reflection on what took place in South Africa against the Children. For Focus 1000 as he put it that during a time like this, services should be provided for the Children which is very paramount as they are the future. They should be given the services needed to be well grown up and become very useful in Society, with this in future they become the first beneficiaries, later their family and the Society or Community. But to succeed this he said much attention should be paid to their rights, duties and responsibilities as a Child. The Children are more conscious of their rights and deliberately in most cases ignore their roles and responsibilities as their duties to perform to their Parents, Authorities and the Society they found themselves.
Mr. Mohamed Bailor Jalloh admonished the Youths that It is compulsory for Parents from the time of pregnancy as their duty to start caring for the Child while in the womb unto the time the Child is born, responsibility Continue to let the Child be Educated and well trained up, attend to all his/her Educational requests or any other way the Child might be trained well and Parents later look for positive results from the Child, if fails to do so will cause a breakdown to his/herself, the Family and Community. That is why Children are not only trained by their direct Parents, the Community too contributes to develop each Child because it would be a lost to the Community and Nation if any Child comes out bad, if good will be a great profit to all. With this he said every Community and Nation should see that Children are Educated, survive or developed and do well in life. Some Parents only invest on themselves with much wealth, vehicles, lands, houses, many wives or girl-lovers etc and nothing good done for the Children, so the Children will end-up destroying all that the Parents gathered due to the lack of better planning for the future in sustaining the wealth.
As he conclude on the rights and services to be given to the Children said, just coming from the Day of the African Child, now use this period to see what we can do for the Children and that is the HAPPY KOMBRA NETWORK. The word ‘KOMBRA’ is not only meant for the women but for both the husband and wife to take care of their Child or Children. With regards to this, FOCUS 1000 being an organization that greatly give special respect to the one thousand (1000) days of the Child starting from the day of pregnancy as day one (1) unto one thousand (1000) days, if no death occur during the process, must go through the one thousand (1000) days, is always with an open door to be part of service delivery to a Child or the Children.
Mr. Mohamed Bailor Jalloh educated the Participants of the 1000 days being very important in the life of the Child, with that made an illustration of somebody building a house starts with the foundation, if very strong will hold up the structure, if found weak will tell on the building for a quick break to destruction. It is clear that no one will go in for the weak foundation but if so then you have yourself to blame, if strong as expected, then it becomes profitable to the family and even generation yet to come as it is happening in many families today. Now in the life of human specifically the Child, the first 1000 days is the foundation of the Child, it is during this period that the brain grows up to 80% for it to be strong when given the correct care.
But the weak foundation again is from this period if the Child lack the services needed automatically the breakdown in the life of that Child starts, because it is during this period the brain together with the lungs, the muscles and the bones develop.
In addition, the attitude of the Child starts and develop during this period, that is why Parents are warned not to be of any bad attitude during pregnancy, as the Child in the womb starts to learn or copy unto birth and when he/she starts to speak and go into action will manifest most of what he/she learnt or copied during the 1000 days period. It is out of this 1000 days that led FOCUS 1000 as an Organization that is fully capacitated with the human resource as both Local and International well experienced in Children’s issues retired from that status as Staffs, yet still strong with very active brains that can atticulate well still think they have more to give to their Country, came together and formed the now FOCUS 1000 Nationally and Internationally recognized as an NGO, thought it fit to lay more premium or emphasis on the Child’s first 1000 days for a better future the Child, the family and the Community of the Child. Not only limited to Sierra Leonean but Foreigners too are cared and catered for so long it is in the interest of the Child and Mother to be of good health.
During the growth of the Child; do face many sicknesses which in most cases cannot withstand it unless is cared for by the Parents, Family, Community or the Government for the survivor of the Child. Sierra Leone from studies happens to be a Country where the Child and the Mother conceive the highest death rate in the World, which is not a good news for the Country as he continues, with some Countries that are more poor than Sierra Leone don’t envisage such death rate and this takes place either before, during or after given birth., either the Child, the Mother or both lost their lives during this process due to the lack of so many health lapses as a major factor.
No wonder traditionally people don’t give the Child name early till they cross the time frame of the first one thousand (1000) days; to be sure of the Child’s survivor during this period as it is believed that many hardly cross this point in Sierra Leone due to the early death. Now the Country wants to be off this bad global record, by seeing that all health applications for Children during this period is massively administered to Children with proper monitoring by the Government, it Partners in collaboration with Civil Societies and Communities. For the Public to be well informed, proper measures must be put in place to create the enabling environment, this came in the engagement of the Communities to take ownership compared to the past Ebola Outbreak, that Ebola after enough awareness due to the Communities taking the ownership quickly made it thing of the past, so the activities of the Children should be undertaken to the fullest to see them survive and positively become important in Society as he encouraged them to serve as Ambassadors to pass the correct messages for a positive change.
Now to the focus of the gathering was the orientation of the Community Youths to get them equip in the dissemination of health messages in their Communities during the Maternal and Child Health Week (MCHW) Campaign staring from the 23rd to the 27th June, wherein Children would be immunized. The Youths including other Community Members will embark on massive Campaign to inform their Communities as to how the exercise would be expected to be. That it would be a House to House Campaign by Health Workers and it will be three (3) per Team, one would be responsible to give Vitamin A and Albendazole and tally, the second one’s duty is to check that the vaccination status and vaccinates for defaulters from 0-23 months old, tally and the third Person is to ask Parents if they know of Children with AFP or suspected Measles in the past month and to screen pregnant Women for FANC referral issue slip, tally and mark the house appropriately.
For the Community Youths, he admonished them that their own duty is to closely monitor the process and ensure it is done, assist those that are at the hard to reach areas to be reached by these Health Workers so that Communities if not 100% but closely to 100% becomes beneficiaries of the process. For this purpose, FOCUS 1000 has given support to the Children Advocacy Forum Sierra Leone (CAFSL) being part of the ‘KOMBRA NETWORK OF FOCUS 1000’, to get onboard these different Community Youths to be orientated and charged with the responsibility to take part in the MCHW Campaign from start to finish of the ‘MAMMY EN PIKIN WELBODI WEEK’ (as is commonly known in Krio).
As he ends, that he kindly ‘IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD/CHILDREN’ encouraged all and sundry to be part of the process as a National Task for us to achieve the goal we are yearning at as a Nation for the benefit of our beloved Mama Salone. Other Actors that brilliantly contributed in the programme were the Immunization Facilitator Mr. James King, the CAF-SL Executive Director Mr. Abdulai Dendewai Swaray and Team and the positive responses from the different Communities’ Participants as viable contributions that climax the occasion.
By: Viktor Tutu Rogers
Member Of Kombra Media Network (Kmn) Of Focus 1000
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