Story summary:

Ifrah, 23, is a public health Officer by profession who works for Save the Children as a mobile health nurse in Afdem, a district in Ethiopia's Somali Region. Every day, she and her team members travel through roughed topography in scorching sun landscape to deliver health care and nutrition support to people living in the most remote villages without access to basic health services. In Somali Region.

Before joining Save the Children, she served as maternal and child health service provider at a government hospital in the regional ministry of public health. Currently working for Save the Children mobile health team traveling to remote villages where there are often no roads and bridges and few health facilities.

Ifrah's story in her own words (Quotes):

"My name is Ifrah, I am 23 years old. In 2020, I graduated with BA degree in public health officer from Jigjiga University. Before joining Save the Children, I have been working at a maternal and child health clinic in government Hospital. I am currently working as a mobile health nurse at a Save the Children run mobile health clinic here in Afdem district of Somali Region"

The mobile health clinic was set-up by Save the Children with the support from EHF-UN-OCHA. It opened on April; 2022and operates on weekdays. Our mobile health team consists of four health professionals- a nurse, midwife, and two health officers.
Through the mobile health team, we regularly screen and treat children for malnutrition and other common childhood illness. We usually use MUAC tape, which measures the mid- upper arm circumference of children to identify level of malnutrition and as part of the treatment plan, we distribute Plumy' nut, a nutritious, peanut based paste, which helps restore the health of severely malnourished children.

During our visit to the villages, we also assess and treat children and adults with common illness and we need to ensure that all the babies we see are receiving the vaccine they need. We usually work up until 2pm, but if the number of people coming are very high, we do not take a break or leave at all. Some days we can work up until 5pm without any break, especially in areas that are really far from health facilities.

The farthest place that we travel is called Asli, which is about 85 km from the centre Afdem town. Here in Somali Region, temperature during the day can soar as high as 38-40 degree centigrade so most people come to access the health services very early in the morning or late in the afternoon.

Most of the children that we treat here are severely malnourished and have other related illness. For example in the last two weeks, we screened more than 130 pregnant and lactating women of which 54 were found to be moderately malnourished and from 205 children screened for malnutrition, 75 were severely malnourished and have been admitted and received treatment at the OTP care centre we run here.

The good thing is that we do not have problems treating common childhood illness like fever, cough and diarrhoea. UINCEF is providing us with all the supplies used to treat children with malnutrition and other essential drugs, what we are lacking is essential drugs to treat adults.

There is nothing more gratifying than seeing the children smiling after being treated. I feel happy and proud working for Save the Children and be able to save children lives.

Notes from the interviewer:

It is 7:00am, and Ifrah and her team that includes vaccination officer, under-five years' clinical nurse, midwife, public health officer and community promoter are gearing up for another day of intense work. They will drive for more than two to three hours through the roughed topography to Sintahu village to reach families who would otherwise have no access to medical services.

Background / Project information

On 24 July 2021, the escalation of intercommunal conflict in areas bordering Somali and Afar regions caused the displacement of 4,923 households (approx. 32,000 individuals), the majority of whom are women and children. The IDPs have temporarily settled in five different locations across four woredas of Sitti zone. So far, regional DPPB have been able to reach 1,460 of IDPs through food supply as well as ESNFI and other lifesaving support. Local communities (their clans), relatives or families currently host an estimated 32,000 displaced individuals while those who do not have the option to move to another place have remained in IDP sites in makeshift houses that they built with stick wall and plastic sheet roofing.

In response to the crises, Save the Children steps up treatment of children with malnutrition in the target districts of the Somali Region. Since April this year, Save the Children through its integrated Multi-Sectoral lifesaving emergency response to children and their family's project has provided WASH, health and nutrition, Education and child protection assistance to people affected by intercommunal conflict in Sitti zone of the Somali Region, Ethiopia.

The emergency nutrition programme funded by EHF through UN-OCHA started in April 2022 Afdem and Miesso districts. Since April 2022, 1046 children were screened for malnutrition out of which 167 children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) received treatment at the OTP sites run by the mobile health team while 13 children with medical complications were referred to the Stabilization Centre that Save the Children supported and strengthened. In addition, 154 children were provided with different vaccine and 187 women received TT vaccination. On the other hand, 1084 children under five years of age and 1387 adults provided medical consultation and treatment by the mobile health team.