Making Friends for Community Health

Since 1988, the Municipal Coordinating Committee for Overseas Bicycle Assistance (MCCOBA) has sent over 53,000 reconditioned bicycles to 90 developing countries through JOICFP.

The bicycles are used by community health workers to:

• Deliver information on health care,
• Provide health consultation
• Increase access to health services.

After receiving a letter of appreciation from the Malawian embassy in Tokyo thanking MCCOBA for its valuable reconditioned bicycles supply for the Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM), in cooperation with IPPF, Hideyuki Takahashi,
Executive Secretary of MCCOBA, and Director, Resource Development and Campaign, JOICFP, and two staff, visited the embassy.

Malawi suffers the third-highest maternal mortality rate in the world (1,800 per 100,000). Provision of reconditioned bicycles with spare parts is a big help to facilitate community-based safe motherhood projects in remote rural areas to reduce maternal and newborn mortality & morbidity rates in Malawi.

JOICFP told the ambassador, H.E. Roosevelt L. Gondwe, about MCCOBA and the White Ribbon Campaign for Safe Motherhood, as well as how important the bicycle campaign is in supporting rural health.

Reconditioned bicycles from Japan
also play important roles in enhancing the morale
of CBDs and strengthening social recognition
of safe motherhood in Malawi

The ambassador was keen to assist the campaign, and agreed to visit mayors of Japanese local governments that support MCCOBA to express his thanks on behalf of the Malawi government.

To date, MCCOBA has sent 575 bicycles to FPAM in Malawi.

In a visit to the Ghanaian embassy, JOICFP met with H.E. Dr. Barfuor Adjei-Barwuah, who also expressed his strong support for the reconditioned bicycle donations to the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) and his willingness to visit the mayors to show his country’s appreciation.

The ambassador fully recognized the important roles of MCCOBA and its difficulties in finding shipment costs from Japan to the final destinations as commodity assistance may often not reach communities in need due to lack of shipping and forwarding costs.

JOICFP staff met with Ghanaian ambassador
at the embassy and developed relationships
for collaboration in the future

In response to the visit to the Ghanaian ambassador, JOICFP was invited to attend 50th anniversary celebrations of the independence of the Republic of Ghana and met with other senior African diplomats.

Both ambassadors are now much more familiar with MCCOBA and JOICFP’s activities, and JOICFP looks forward to facilitating collaboration with them for the MDGs in future.