On April 26, 2018, Doctors with Africa CUAMM together with UNICEF Uganda held a special event in Arua, in West Nile Region, to hand over the 207 bicycles to the Health Unit Management Committee (HUMC) chairpersons in the region to facilitate easy movement during supervision of health facilities in their communities. This effort by CUAMM was to support health facility leadership and governance in the region. Several people and authorities from different districts attended the event including Genesis Acema, Vice Chairperson and secretary social services representing the LC V chairperson of Arua, and Grace Goro, secretary for social services in Koboko district, among others.
Arua, Uganda – April 26 2018. Dr Peter Lochoro and Mr Genesis Acema during the bicycles handover.
During the launch, Dr. Peter Lochoro, Doctors with Africa CUAMM Country Representative in Uganda, underlined the role of HUMCs in strengthening the health system in the area and in creating bridges between the health facilities and the communities.
“Last year in August we promised these bicycles and today I am very proud we have kept the promise. These will be important instruments in the hands of HUMC chairpersons because we ask them a big effort: not just monitoring health facilities, but also creating links between these places and the communities around. The volunteers shall face bad feelings, rumors and doubts about the quality of the health care and make people trust the health facilities. We are all here for the people, to serve communities because they are our most important stakeholder and we want them to be confident in the health system,” Peter Lochoro remarked.
Arua, Uganda. Nyai Sami, one of one of the HUMC chairperson from Vurra sub-county with his new bicycle.
Nyai Sami, one of the HUMC chairperson from Vurra sub-county (Arua), expressed his satisfaction with the new bicycle:
“I have worked as a HUMC chairperson volunteer since 2014 and the lack of transport is one of the biggest challenges we have here. If you don’t have a bicycle, it is really hard to reach the health facilities and the communities around, but now I will be able to join the outreaches and the mass activities in the villages, mobilizing the communities and at the same time monitoring the quality of the health services,” he said joyfully.
