World Vision is expanding a successful midwifery training programme from Herat to Chaghcharan in Ghor Province. The Community Midwife Education Programme,
opening in September and supported by World Vision United States and JHPIEGO (an international health organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University), will address a dire need for midwives in
the mountainous, isolated districts of this underserved province.
Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. According to UNDP figures from 2004, one woman
dies from pregnancy-related causes approximately every 30 minutes. Health practitioners are needed to stem these deaths. Women must be trained as midwives and prepared to serve in remote, rural
communities. The best method and most sustainable is one that recruits women from the community to be trained as midwives.
'In Ghor, most of the midwives have come from Tajikistan,' says
Dr. Farooq Mansoor, Health Programme Manager. This is both expensive and unsustainable, he says. 'Women from Herat and Kabul won't go there because of the security. In recruiting and training
locally, we hope to change the situation.'
In the past, a handful of women were recruited from Ghor to study in the Herat programme which has graduated 142 midwives since opening in
2004. But in Afghan society, it's rarely acceptable for women to live or study so far from home. Granting easier access to health education for 24 women drawn from rural communities, the Ghor
programme will create inroads to better health for mothers throughout this western province.
With low levels of female education, especially in remote areas, the programme is prepared
to recruit women who have as little as a sixth grade education. Recognizing the limitations of women in these areas, Dr. Mansoor said that even women with no formal education could be considered.
It's necessary, he says: 'The needs are so high in these communities and there's a scarcity of literate women.'
In collaboration with a local women's NGO, STARS, the 18-month training
programme will include a furnished skills lab, practical clinic work, transportation to training sites, and housing. However, some students may face problems with the hostel-style living
arrangements. These students from faraway districts and more conservative families may need alternative housing. Dr. Mansoor says funds are being sought to assist those women who are required to
stay elsewhere with relatives or a maharam (a male relative who, by law, must accompany a woman when she is away from her home).
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
