Nurse and health worker Rukaya Mumuni and community health worker Prossy Muyingo are among the 'Health Heroes' honored this year.Heidi de Marco for NPR Hide caption
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Heidi de Marco for NPR
Nurse and health worker Rukaya Mumuni and community health worker Prossy Muyingo are among the 'Health Heroes' honored this year.
Heidi de Marco for NPR
Prossy Muyingo is being honored as a “Health Hero” for helping women make more informed decisions about family planning and reproductive health. She says she couldn't do it without braiding her hair.
Muyingo is one of twelve women who have been honored with this titleWomen Deliver Conference 2023, an annual international event focusing on gender equality and the health, rights and well-being of girls and women. ONEThe 37-year-old mother of three, who lives in Kampala, Uganda, is a community health worker who goes door-to-door to educate women about their sexual health and reproductive rights.
But women in the low-income communities she serves often don't have the luxury of talking to a health worker who shows up on their doorstep, says Muyingo: "I could be in the field for six hours, but I still can't I manage." You can talk to women at length about their health problems.
Hair is your secret ally
So, he devised a plan based on other skills.
Before the pandemic, Muyingo ran a hair salon to supplement her income. Although she is paid for her non-profit health work by Living Goods, a health charity working with the government, it is not enough to get by.
"I told them about my salon and invited them to braid their hair," she says. “It often made her sad. And once they arrive, I can spend up to two hours with them and braid them.” He will charge for the appointment, but the women have more than just a makeover. As she knits, Muyingo asks about her medical history, discusses her sexual health - including contraceptive use - and directs her to appropriate clinics for reproductive or other health issues.
Prossy Muyingo, a Ugandan community health worker and hairdresser, was struggling to get women to talk to her about their health needs - until she came up with an idea that involved hair braiding.Heidi de Marco for NPR Hide caption
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Heidi de Marco for NPR
Prossy Muyingo, a Ugandan community health worker and hairdresser, was struggling to get women to talk to her about their health needs - until she came up with an idea that involved hair braiding.
Heidi de Marco for NPR
“For example, I once braided the hair of this lady, Mama Samila, who had three children under the age of five. He was only 22 years old. So I brought up the issue of family planning. I told her I also have three.” “I am much older, but I am much older and I have explained the benefits of family planning,” says Muyingo.
“She was curious how I did it, so I explained to her the use of contraception. She had a lot of questions about whether it was safe, but then she mentioned that her husband wouldn't feel comfortable using these contraceptives." Muyingo advised her to first go to a health center that offers family planning services on her own. In countries where patriarchal norms guide women's choices, health professionals may suggest that a woman come for screening without her partner.
Like Muyingo, all of this year's winners are from Africa. As the awards ceremony was held in Africa for the first time, the idea was to "recognize the contribution of women health workers in Africa to the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights". Winners include doctors, nurses, midwives and medical staff.
"It's a critical time to recognize the role of women in health care," she saysDR. Roopa Dhatt, co-founder and executive director of Women in Global Health, which runs the awards program. "The world is struggling with restrictions on sexual and reproductive health and rights and recurring humanitarian crises," he notes. She also highlights the importance of women in healthcare: “Women make up almost 70% of the health and care workforce and are 90% of frontline healthcare workers. Despite their commitment, women are still pushed into lower-level, lower-paid and unpaid jobs, often in unsafe working conditions, subjected to violence and sexual harassment, and marginalized in decision-making."
At the conference, NPR interviewed two of the awardees, who talked about their own fight for more recognition and better treatment from the medical establishment: Muyingo and Rukaya Mumuni, a 37-year-old nurse and public health worker from Ghana.
Rukaya Mumuni, a nurse and public health expert from Ghana, at the Women Deliver conference in Kigali, Rwanda. "I wish women could get the right training, compensation, guidance and recognition for their vital work in health," she says.Heidi de Marco for NPR Hide caption
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Heidi de Marco for NPR
Rukaya Mumuni, a nurse and public health expert from Ghana, at the Women Deliver conference in Kigali, Rwanda. "I wish women could get the right training, compensation, guidance and recognition for their vital work in health," she says.
Heidi de Marco for NPR
Inspired by a nurse from her village
Mumuni comes from a poor rural community in Ghana with few educational opportunities. “Most of the girls from my village in Gugshigu district dropped out of school and went to the big cities to look for work. I also grew up with many difficulties," he says. "My mother was a single parent, I never met my father."
“Most of the nurses who served our community came from outside, as many girls never received any training. But one day when I was going to the hospital with my mother, I met a nurse from our village,” says Mumuni. This encounter inspired her to study nursing and later pursue a Masters in Public Health.
Women in Ghana face daunting challenges in healthcare, says Mumuni. “We get very low wages and incentives [compared to men]. If you're not in a higher pay grade, you're not actually entitled to a transport allowance,” he says. Women who travel as part of their work as community nurses "often pay out of pocket".
But without these women, she says, the health system would suffer. For example, the hospital where she works has a cervical cancer screening center that serves 300,000 women. When the only person there who could operate the equipment left the center, Mumuni pushed to train female nurses to take over instead of closing the center. She says it was an uphill battle for her to get approval from the authorities.
According to Mumuni, this is an example of how women in the health sector are often underestimated.
“Although the majority of health workers are women, most of the credit goes to the men – because they are big and tough. May women get the right training, pay, guidance and recognition for the important work they do in the health sector,” she says.
“However, I see so many nurses working with utmost dedication, they are so passionate about their work. And that's why I'm here – to accept this award for you,” he says.
Sending a photo of the award to her colleagues, she said: "I told them it was their win." They texted her that they were so happy they cried.
And just as meeting a nurse inspired her to pursue a career in nursing, she said other young women have been inspired by her example.
“Many young women tell me they want to follow in my footsteps. I am very active on social media. When I post my photo, I get comments from young girls from my village. They say they are so excited about my work and my success and are motivated to become like me."
Mumuni says she is doing her best to give these girls a chance. “This one young girl came to me to work as a domestic. she had dropped out of primary school to support her family. I made sure she went back to school and I try to support her in any way I can because education is so important. When I look at myself, I can see how far education has taken me. I hope he can do the same for her."
Appeal for better pay
Advocating for the rights of community health workers is central to Muyingo's work in Uganda. “We have a lot of responsibilities [as health workers]. We are researchers when we seek important information, we are a support system for our communities, helping them get medical care and follow up on their treatments and vaccinations. But for everyone: "We have to be paid for it," he says, noting that in Uganda, community health workers typically receive a small monetary compensation, which is not enough to support a family.
Muyingo himself was struggling to make ends meet. During the pandemic, she had to close her salon for good. Although he continues to run a smaller barbershop from home, life has not been easy. "The pandemic has been a very difficult time for me as a health worker and as a mother. It has shown that we have many gaps in the community. For example, we couldn't get [personal protective equipment] for our jobs, even though we were on the front lines serving our community,” he says.
Muyingo was drawn to community health care after having to deal with bureaucracy in Uganda to secure health care for her son, who was diagnosed with sickle cell disease.
“My 13-year-old son suffers a lot and needs [hospital care] every Monday, but hospitals were very hard to find. Even getting basic information about services was difficult,” he recalls.
Today, it not only supports better pay for community health workers, but also training and technical resources to help them gather information and report it to authorities.
He hopes the information he shares will help others. He remembers a 21-year-old woman he met who was one month pregnant. Muyingo referred the young woman to an antenatal care clinic, where the pregnant woman was informed that she was HIV positive. "He panicked and left without asking for help," says Muyingo. "I went to her home for aftercare and convinced her to get medical help to keep her baby safe." The woman was taking medication to reduce the risk of infection to the fetus. "Today your child is 2 years old and HIV negative."
"Being a community health worker is a calling from God," Muyingo says of her job. "Nobody exists to get rich, but to help life. The feeling of knowing that no child in your community will get polio or measles because of your efforts is very rewarding."
Ruchi Kumar is a journalist covering conflict, politics, development and culture in India and Afghanistan. He tweets @RuchiKumar