Daw Myint Myint Aye is community malaria volunteer (CMV) for the American Refugee Committee (ARC) project U Kyaw Soe Garden malaria corner point, 14 Mile Village, Kawthaung Township, Tanintharyi Region.
The CMVs assume an essential role in effective malaria prevention and control; as health educators disseminating malaria prevention and treatment messages in the community, and as a bridge between health service delivery points and the community. They provide free malaria testing using rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) and treatment, thus enabling access to early diagnosis and treatment. They also promote preventive behaviour along with distribution of long lasting insecticidal bednets (LLINs).
Daw Myint Myint Aye came to Kawthaung from Dawei Township. Although she had worked in a store after her graduation from the university and before she got married, afterwards she was fully occupied by her work as a wife and mother. One day, staff from ARC came to recruit new CMVs. Even though she had never worked as a CMV before, she decided to volunteer for the better health of other migrant workers like herself.
Supported by the Regional Artemisinin-resistance Initiative (RAI), the training provided by ARC has improved CMVs’ knowledge of malaria and their skills to disseminate malaria prevention and treatment messages in their communities.
Daw Myint Myint Aye gave us an example of what motivates her to devote her time and service towards effective malaria prevention and control, and the better health of the community.
Ko Tun is a migrant worker in a palm oil plantation. Daw Myint Myint Aye met him during a community health education session for malaria. As he looked ill with fever, she carried out an RDT test which turned out to be positive for malaria. Daw Myint Myint Aye immediately provided treatment for malaria in the form of three days of directly observed ACT treatment.
One week later, Daw Myint Myint Aye was on her way back from a monitoring visit to other malaria corner points.
“By chance I spotted a man pushing down an oil palm fruit bunch with a 10-feet-long knife. He was working normally, just like any healthy person. With a closer look, I saw that the man was Ko Tun, and I had a feeling of accomplishment, which brought me immense joy.”
Daw Myint Myint Aye goes on to describe this feeling more accurately in her own words, “It is a nourishing joy that gives me strength to overcome challenges and determination to keep on fighting against malaria at its battlefront in this remote corner of south-eastern Myanmar.”
“Ko Tun is the sole breadwinner for his wife and newborn child. As a wife and mother myself, I felt sorry to hear from his wife of the family’s hardships and daily struggle, which was worsened by Ko Tun’s illness as he could no longer work,” says Daw Myint Myint Aye.
Today his health has much improved and the family is safely back at home in Bago Region.
ARC has been implementing its project entitled ‘Extending effective malaria control and artemisinin resistance containment activities to hard-to-reach and transient populations in priority area of southeast Myanmar’ with support from RAI since 2014. The goal of RAI is to avert the spread of artemisinin resistance and accelerate the elimination of P. falciparum malaria in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.
You can read more about the work of the American Refugee Committee here.
