CHW Voices – Kofi

By: Ringwald Obah Kofi

My name is Ringwald Obah Kofi. I am from Duadaso No.2 in the Jaman North District in the Bono Region of Ghana in West Africa. I am 29 years old.

I was a community health worker (CHW) under the Ghana Youth and Employment Agencies from 2016 to 2018. My contract expired with YEA on August 8th, 2018. After my contract expired, I decided to volunteer and continue to work for the community. I have been a volunteer for almost two years now at Duadaso Health Centre.

As a volunteer, I work closely with the community health nurses at child welfare clinics,  conduct household visits and travel  to various schools in the community to give health talks. Sometimes, I collect vaccines at the District Directorate to use during child welfare clinics. . Once we have completed the child welfare clinics, I work in the out patient department at the Duadaso Health Centre, until we start the next clinic.  I contribute to providing basic health and medical care to the community by  delivering preventive and curative services at the household level.

I have good relationships with the people in the community and they love what I am doing for the community, especially the mothers, because of how I always educate and encourage them during child welfare clinics .

But sometimes, people in the community doubt me because I’m not professionally trained by any of the nurses training colleges.

Because I am not a professionally trained nurse, the work is sometimes difficult, especially when you visit people in their various homes. They do not pay much attention to you and some will tell you they are busy and do not have time for you to have a discussion with them. Some will insult you when you are educating them on the dangers involved in abusing drugs, speeding, teenage pregnancy, not sleeping under treated mosquito nets and etcetera because I am not a professionally trained nurse.

I sometimes feel bad when there is a lot of pressure on the nurses giving injections. I want to assist  them but because I was not trained in any nurses training college, I can not help.

I choose to be a community health worker because I love and cherish the health and welfare of the people in the community. I pledge to work harder to serve the people in my  community, Ghana and the world as a whole.

I continued working as a community health worker after our contracts ended because I have love and passion for the work and also cherish the health and the welfare of the people in the community.

I want to continue my education at the community nurses training college to become a professional nurse. I really want to be a community health nurse because I love it and I have chosen it to be my noble profession.

I want to go to a community nurses training college in Sunyani – Tanoso in the Bono Region of Ghana and offer nursing assistant (preventive) as a program for two years.

I hope my dream will be fulfilled after completing the nurses training college and I believe I will be posted as a professional community health nurse I hope then, the people in the community will not doubt me anymore but they will believe me and always come to me for my service.