To encourage and strengthen support from donors at all levels, NGOs need to clearly demonstrate the outcomes and benefits of programs and activities. From 4th to 8th September, JOICFP organized a mass media study tour to Zambia, arranged by PPAZ, to show how the Community-operated Reproductive Health (CoRH) Project had improved the lives of people at the grassroots over the last ten years.

Tour members visited counterpart agencies and the Fiwale project site in Masaiti District. The chairman of the local steering committee told the visitors that the project had started with sensitization of community leaders to accept the project, and this was followed by identification of health problems to be tackled. The project provided training, education, monitoring, and had successfully encouraged community members to fully participate in health activities.

Community-based Distributors gather in Fiwale

The chairman then explained that the CoRH project had, among other areas, increased birth spacing and awareness of HIV/AIDS, and greatly reduced maternal and infant mortality and parasitic infection. Furthermore, CoRH has stimulated a sense of project ownership, and health providers have gained credibility in the community, he said, with the project being greatly appreciated.

Further support from JOICFP for the project was highlighted through, for example, facilitating the use of bicycles for service providers through the MCCOBA scheme and assistance from the Bellmark Foundation to build a multi-purpose clubhouse.

Traditional Birth Attendants on bicycles provided
through JOICFP under the MCCOBA scheme

The tour members were also impressed by the benefits of the CoRH project and it is expected that articles will appear in one of Japan's leading daily newspapers explaining how JOICFP and the CoRH project provide real benefits to those living at the grassroots by addressing, among other issues, HIV/AIDS, safe motherhood and poverty.