An interview with Andry Mahefanirina, Community Health Team Leader
Sarindra handing over the keys to Andry
The Mandritsara district covers about 10,500 sq kms. That is about three times as big as the county of Kent in SE England, or half the size of Wales. In 2020 it was estimated that the population was over 320,000. Over 90% of these people live in 200 or so villages scattered throughout the district. The Good News Hospital in the town of Mandritsara serves them all, offering a wide range of medical, surgical and obstetric facilities. But for many people, Mandritsara is a 2 or 3 day walk for fit people in the dry season. So in the rainy season, or if you are old or unwell, Mandritsara is a long, long way away. We say “walk,” because there are few vehicles in the district, and very few real roads. In fact there is only one tarred road in the whole district. Other “roads” are tracks used by ox-carts, with minimal, if any, upkeep. These are some of the logistic difficulties in bringing health care to the people of the Mandritsara district.
The purpose of the Good News Hospital Community Health Team is therefore to go out to these villages, bringing primary health care, vaccinations and health education. The visits also provide a great opportunity to bring the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to people living “at the end of the world” – and beyond. But the challenge is to get there from Mandritsara.
It has been some years since the Community Health Team has had a functioning, reliable, 4x4 vehicle to reach these isolated villages. Team members have had to go on foot, or bicycle, or motor-bike, or occasionally helicopter when Helimission visits. But now, with great joy, the team have received a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser station wagon – just the job for these parts. The Lord has provided it through the generosity of His people.
We asked Andry, the Community Health Team leader, a number of questions to help us understand the importance of this vehicle to the work of the team.
What will the new Land Cruiser be used for?
We will use the Land Cruiser for missions which combine health outreach to distant communities, with bringing the gospel in the hope of church planting.
What is the advantage of the Land Cruiser over the motor-bikes that you use a lot?
There are several advantages.
· Firstly, we can take a bigger team, including folk who are not able to go by motor bike.
· We can safely take more equipment – bigger and more delicate items, such as a small electrical generator, a video projector, loudspeakers, sports equipment for youth outreach, a guitar to help our singing and to draw folk in.
· Taking a video projector and loudspeakers for evangelization and health education in the evening is very helpful because most people in the villages are farmers who are only available in their village at night.
· It is safer to travel by 4x4 than to travel by motor-bike.
· If we find a patient who needs to be taken back urgently to the hospital, this is possible for us and may result in a saved life. This is often the situation with a maternity patient.
We also find that the community, and community leaders “respect” a vehicle. It shows our real commitment to helping their village. And when other villages hear of our visit in a car, they become interested in inviting us to come to them.
Can you give us an example of a mission that will particularly benefit from the Land Cruiser?
The new church at Anjonany, meeting in the village school.
One of the things that we have been involved in for many years is trying to help villages with the problem of hygiene and sanitation. Before we came, toilets hardly existed in most villages and people just “went to the toilet” in the bushes in, or around, the villages. This leads to the spread of gastroenteritis, typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis and intestinal worms, to name but a few diseases. We are following an international scheme called CLTS – Community Led Total Sanitation (you can read about it on the internet).
A gospel talk for the children at Anjobany, by Andry's wife
When we go to a village for a CLTS campaign, we need a good number of workers, especially if the village is large, so that we can split into teams and share out the tasks to be done. One team will be busy raising awareness with the village leaders, explaining to them the danger of their present situation and the plan for a solution (toilet building). The other team is meanwhile surveying the village, the layout of the houses, the places used for “toilets” and planning the best places to locate the pit latrines that we will teach them how to construct. We first seek to convince the village leaders, and then later on we have a meeting with the whole village to share the plans.
Then in the evening we have a good team to organise a gospel meeting for the villagers, often with a gospel film. All this is made possible by the Land Cruiser.
A final word from Andry:
This beautiful car is already “Good News.” The words "Vaovao Mahafaly" (“Good News”) written on the side of the car are a signpost, reminding us and reminding the villagers that we are here to present and represent the Good News of our Lord Jesus and not anything else.
Prayer points:
1. Praise God with us for the provision of this vehicle.
2. Pray for safety for the drivers in negotiating bush roads – with fragile bridges, flooded streams, mud ++, fallen trees and deep potholes.
3. Pray for the maintenance of the vehicle by the hospital mechanics and the Toyota garage in Antananarivo.
4. Pray that many villages will be helped in terms of health through the team visits in the Land Cruiser, and pray that many who hear the wonderful message of salvation through Jesus will turn to Him and trust Him.