From May 10 to 12, 2016, a malaria Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop was held at the training center UNITAS in Koudougou. The workshop was organized by Peace Corps Burkina Faso with the support from the Ministry of Health through the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) represented by Soumaila KY and Moussa KABORE. The workshop brought together 35 participants, Peace Corps Volunteers and their counterparts (health workers, teachers, association members, members of the community development committees). For three days, participants were trained in the following topics: Technical knowledge of malaria (symptoms of the disease, the cycle of transmission and infection, preventive and curative treatment), malaria situation in Burkina Faso, malaria control strategy by the Government of Burkina Faso, the Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLIN) campaign for 2016 and seasonal chemo prophylaxis, community involvement in malaria fight with Volunteers and their counterparts, good practices for malaria fight and the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) expectations from Volunteers and their counterparts for the 2016 campaign of distribution LLINs and the seasonal chemo prevention campaign
Peace Corps Volunteers shared best practices for mitigating malaria that they’ve already implemented in their various communities: Experimentation with PEDACOM+ (active malaria diagnosis and treatment at home), door-to-door awareness campaigns, bed nets repairs and beautification for optimal use, bed net transformation for space management, transforming the rectangular bed net shape to a circular shape, malaria prevention through hygiene and sanitation, the resources available for raising awareness in preschool, primary, secondary and school clubs, monitoring and evaluation tools, presentation of feasible activities in the community.
At the end of the training, the Boot Camp Malaria Task Force of Peace Corps showed its willingness to support Volunteers and their communities in any activity focused toward fighting malaria by providing human resources, trainings, written resources, and tools. Peace Corps Volunteers and their counterparts reiterated their commitment to continue to help to drastically reduce malaria cases. They expressed their commitment to continue the awareness campaigns and better support the Burkinabe government in the 2016 campaign of LLIN distribution and the Malaria Seasonal Chemo Prevention campaign. They will make sure to report their actions to help measure the results at the national level. Participants created an action plan for each site for future action steps against malaria. Volunteers and their counterparts have formed a network to coordinate their actions. They are planning a training in the community (for other Volunteers and community members who did not benefit from this training) to enlarge the malaria boot camp task force. They also decided to expand and innovate malaria awareness efforts.
The National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) welcomed the dedication of Corps Volunteers to deal with the issue of malaria. Also, they congratulated Volunteers for their integration and synergy with communities. Representatives of the NMCP mentioned their confidence in Volunteers in working towards significant results in the fight against malaria. Peace Corps was grateful to the Ministry of Health through the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) for its involvement in all levels of the training despite their fairly busy calendar marked by the preparations of 2016 malaria awareness campaign.
Aicha Pitroipa, Grants Manager – Peace Corps Burkina Faso
Charles Kambou, Malaria Task Force Leader – Peace Corps Burkina Faso
