Centre 4 Stories and Messages

The Story: A new doctor arrives at Konaweeka Health Centre, surprising everyone when they learn she is a woman. We meet the slick and sinister Clinical Officer Wilberforce Speke Churchill Muchoke, the handsome and mysterious laboratory technician Moses Wema, and the comical cleaner Livingstone Lagada. It's a bad first day at Konaweeka for Dr. Sophia Bagaala and an equally difficult one for Wilberforce and Moses.

The Message: The programme encourages viewers to take malaria during pregnancy seriously-all fevers during pregnancy need immediate treatment at a health facility. To prevent malaria, pregnant women should sleep under insecticide treated bednets, and take prophylactic SP (Fansidar) twice during pregnancy.

The Story: Mrs. Mutungo, a fisherman's wife, has recently delivered a child and is bleeding and in great pain when she accidentally sets her home on fire. Luckily, Moses the laboratory technician rescues mother and baby and rushes them to Konaweeka Health Center. Meanwhile, a team of District supervisors has descended upon the health centre, taking Dr. Sophia by surprise.

The Message: The first hours and days after childbirth are extremely dangerous for women and babies. This is the time when women are most likely to develop life threatening complications of childbirth. Women and their newborns should be checked by a health worker 6 hours, 6 days and 6 weeks after childbirth.

The Story: Mr. and Mrs. Lazalo and their young son Junior sell maize and chicken at Konaweeka Market. When Mr. Lazalo develops Cholera, it spreads to all who eat his chicken or his wife's maize because they do not wash their hands after using the latrine or cleaning Junior. Konaweeka is faced with a Cholera outbreak which Moses Wema and Dr. Sophia manage together, while Wilberforce begins to show the new doctor his true colors when he arrives late at the health centre after treating patients at his private clinic. It looks like Sophia and Moses are warming up to each other…

The Message: To prevent the spread of diarrhea, it is important to wash your hands after using the latrine, and before preparing food, eating, or feeding children. It is the germs from faeces that cause diarrhoea and they can be spread easily to food when hands are not washed with soap and water.

The Story: Goretti's mother is Gertrude, the midwife at Konaweeka Health Centre. So, of course, she wants to attend antenatal care and deliver her baby at the health centre. But, her mother-in-law is the community's traditional birth attendant, and her husband opposes the idea. It takes Gertrude to convince Goretti's mother-in-law and husband that the health centre is the safest place to deliver from. Meanwhile, Moses catches Wilberforce in the act of seducing the beautiful nursing aide Hope while on night duty. Unfortunately, Dr. Sophia gets the wrong impression when she interrupts Moses comforting Hope after Wilberforce's attack. Just when it looked as if something was going to happen between Moses and Dr. Sophia!!

The Message: Every childbirth is risky. A normal labour can unexpectedly develop complications that require immediate medical attention. When a woman delivers at home, far from a health facility, the delay in getting medical attention can cost her life or the life of her child. That's why it is safer to plan to deliver at a health facility with qualified medical attention.

The Story: Konaweeka's strange Dispenser Innocent visits a witchdoctor for treatment of a personal sexual problem, and ends up helping a mother bring her convulsing child to the health centre. The child has Measles. This alerts Dr. Sophia to the low immunisation rates in several local villages, most particularly in the fishing villages on some nearby islands. Wilberforce and nurse Jean make an immunisation outreach visit to one island village, and end up staying the night. That's when Wilberforce makes his moves on the lucious Jean, who turns out to be stronger than she looks and pushes Wilberforce into the lake. Unfortunately, Wilberforce can't swim…

The Message: All children should be immunised five times before their first birthday for protection from 8 life threatening diseases. The immunisations are effective, safe for use, and offered free of charge at all government health facilities.

The Story: Gawayo collapses on the roadside while working on a construction crew. The other workmen rush him to Konaweeke Health Centre, where Dr. Bagaala treats him and suggests that he get tested for HIV/AIDS, since he has a history of frequent illnesses and his wife is pregnant. Mr. Gawayo refuses and angrily leaves the health centre. Later, at home, his condition worsens and he sends his wife to the health centre for medicine. Dr. Sophia and Sr. Gertrude convince Mrs. Gawayo to get HIV counseling and testing, and she learns that she is HIV positive. Sr. Gertrude counsels Mrs. Gawayo to bring her husband for HIV counseling and testing, and to visit the District Hospital for free anti-retroviral drugs that can protect her baby from contracting HIV infection during pregnancy and childbirth. Mr. Gawayo returns to the health centre with serious pneumonia and agrees to take the HIV test, which is positive.

The Message: HIV can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, or through the breastmilk. To prevent producing children with HIV/AIDS, couples should know their HIV status before they get pregnant. Pregnant women who are HIV positive can take anti-retroviral drugs to reduce the risk of passing the AIDS virus to their babies.

The Story: Ojwang, seller of shiny head bands and bright dresses, is back in town. More and more women are coming to the health centre with STDs and they are all wearing Ojwang's clothes and head bands. Bosco, the ambulance driver, is also effected. Once again, Moses Wema unravels the maze of relationships causing the spread of STDs--they all begin with Ojwang and his pretty gifts.

The Message: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are dangerous if not treated correctly. They can lead to infertility, and increase one's chances of getting HIV. To treat STDs correctly, one must treat himself and all sexual partners, avoid sex or use condoms while on treatment, and complete all the medication even if symptoms have already disappeared.

The Story: Sophia's father, three wives, and many children make an unannounced visit. Her father has no money and expects Sophia to put the entire family up in her small doctor's house, and to feed them all. But she hasn't been paid yet. Moses Wema and LC 3 Chairman Zachary Banda befriend her father, and buy the family dinner, much to Sophia's embarrassment, then start talking about vasectomy. Sophia's father decides that vasectomy is the solution to his financial worries but is reluctant to discuss such issues with his daughter. So, he packs the entire family back to the village, where he plans to have the procedure done at his local health centre.

The Message: When a couple has produced all the children they want, there are permanent methods of family planning that they can use. Tubal ligation is a permanent family planning method for women and vasectomy is a permanent family planning method for men. The programme describes these methods and counters some common misconceptions about them.

The Story: Innocent, the Dispenser, has been supplying drugs from the health centre to Wilberforce's private clinic. But, Dr. Sophia is becoming suspicious. When Innocent asks for help from Wilberforce, who is blackmailing Innocent, he denies any complicity in the crime. Wilberforce agrees to return some of the stolen drugs to Innocent but insists that Innocent will have to pay. In fear that Dr. Sophia will find out about the theft and sack him, Innocent pays Wilberforce enough money to buy a car. Later in the day, Innocent's wife shows up at the health centre angrily asking for money to buy food. Dr. Sophia breaks up the argument and becomes very suspicious when she sees that the pharmacy is now completely stocked when it had been empty the previous day. In his fear of his wife, Wilberforce, and Dr. Sophia, Innocent locks himself into the dispensary and tries to kill himself with an overdose of drugs. Luckily, Sophia and Moses save him just in time… The question remains: what is the secret that Wilberforce knows about Innocent?

The Message: Norplant is a family planning method for women that lasts up to 5 years. Six small plastic capsules are inserted under the skin of a woman's upper arm. Once in place, the implants release medicine into the woman's blood that prevents pregnancy. The programme describes the insertion procedure and corrects common misconceptions about Norplant

The Story: Stevo is a bicycle racer and very popular in Konaweeka Trading Centre. He and his wife Alamu have a 6 month old son. Alamu feeds him only breastmilk but Stevo says that she is making their son into a girl and insists that she stop breastfeeing and begin giving the baby porridge. They try for a few days to give the baby porridge but he is constantly crying and fussing. Stevo still refuses to allow Alamu to breastfeed the baby until Alamu seeks advise from the health centre. There, Sr. Gertrude convinces them both that they were partially correct, and advises them on how to correctly feed and monitor the growth of a 6 month old baby.

The Message: When, what and how to feed children between 6 months and two years of age, and the importance of regular weighing to monitor the child's growth.

The Story: Immaculate is 15 and in love with Wilberforce's son Hannington. Hannington is in love with Kezia, the LC 3 Chairman's daughter. It is school break and all the young people are back in Konaweeka so the Health Centre puts on a Teen Bash to educate youth about safer sex. Immaculate's parents will not allow her to attend the Bash but she defies them and attends none the less. There, she meets up with Hannington and tells him she is pregnant. Hannington denies responsibility and tells her he never loved her. Devastated, Immaculate attempts suicide by jumping into Bujagali Falls, but is rescued and taken to the health centre.

The Message: Adolescents need guidance, support, and information from adults about sex, pregnancy, and HIV/AIDS. Often young people get into trouble because they do not have all the information they need. Often young people become sexually active without thinking about the responsibility and risks involved.

The Story: Innocent, the dispenser, confides in Moses that he is impotent and this is the deep secret that Wilberforce was using to blackmail him into stealing drugs for his private clinic. Moses examines Innocent and realizes that his condition is cureable with minor surgery. Dr. Sophia refers Innocent to a surgeon. Meanwhile one of Boscoe's ladies has a sick baby, which Boscoe brings to the health centre for treatment.

The Message: Malaria is the number one killer of children under five in Africa. But, it is preventable by having all children sleep under an insecticide treated bednet. Because Malaria is so common, the Ministry of Health advises parents to treat their children for malaria within the first 24 hours of developing a fever. If the baby is convulsing or does not improve after 2 days of treatment, take him immediately to a health centre.

The Story: The conflict between Dr. Sophia and Wilberforce finally comes to a head when Zachary Banda, the LC 3 Chairman, calls a special disciplinary meeting of the Health Unit Management Committee to probe stock-outs of drugs, and the attempted suicides of the Dispenser and the young girl. On the same day, the District supervisory team is scheduled for a quality of care assessment. Sophia knows she must find documentation to support her claims that Wilberforce has been taking health centre drugs to his private clinic. This is her only hope of retaining her position at the health centre. With the help of Moses, Sophia gets the documentation she needs and exposes Wilberforce's sinister practices before the Management Committee.. It looks as if Sophia has won in her battle to improve the quality of services at the health centre, and has won Moses' heart as well.

The Message: The quality of health services has been steadily improving, now that the Ministry of Health has improved supervision. Community members need to help monitor the quality of health services in their local health centres and demand basic standards of care.