NICARAGUA
by
Alex Marshall - UNFPA
Matasana Diary—The
mother had carried her sick baby for two hours over
steep, rutted roads. Now she could only stand by as the
doctor sounded the child’s chest. Pneumonia, said the
doctor at last. There was nothing to be done, unless she
could get the baby into hospital straight away.
The health team found
space for mother and child in their four-wheel drive. By
evening, after a bumpy ride to the provincial capital
and an anxious hour waiting for a bed, Rosa Alba del
Socorro, six months, was in intensive care. Her mother,
Gregoria, waited outside, alone. She was just 17, and
this was her second time in the city.
She was lucky. Health care can be a hit or miss affair
in the isolated hamlets of north-eastern Nicaragua,
where armed bands still roam and transport is infrequent
and uncertain: but this community is close enough to
Matagalpa, the provincial capital, to have a regular
visit from a health team.
Matagalpa has a
well-organised women’s
collective, which manages both the team and a network of
health promoters and midwives in the area.
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