SWIFT Story of Sustainable Change: Promoting health and well-being through a club in Katchungwe, DRC
Publication date
2016-04-01Keywords
Active citizenshipCapacity building
Community building
Health promotion
Maternal and child health
Participation
Training
Water and sanitation
Wellbeing
SustainabilitySustainable developmentHumanitarian practiceMDGsMillenium Development GoalsDevelopment methodsWASH
Country
The Democratic Republic of CongoMetadata
Show full item recordSeries
SWIFT Stories of Sustainable ChangeDocument type
Case studyDescription
In Katchungwe, a semi-urban village in South Kivu, defecation used to take place mostly in the bush. Hand-washing with soap or ash wasn’t practised, the importance of hygiene in preparing food wasn’t understood, and discarded rubbish rotted in the roads. Sickness and disease were widespread. Now, however, thanks to the Community Health Club set up through the SWIFT programme by Tearfund with the support of Africa AHEAD, the village has been transformed.
The Community Health Club is a free, voluntary club which holds weekly discussions on health and hygiene topics and sets practical assignments. Members have already seen the benefits of adopting the new behaviours in terms of a drop in the incidence of sickness, and are sharing what they have learned with their neighbours.