Baby Joyce's Story: A Life Saved 

Nine-month-old Joyce was treated with drugs that saved her life and cost less than a dollar.

When Alfredo Timane entered the small mud house on a home visit in March 2008, his training through a Save the Children–supported health program had prepared him to help save a baby's life.

You can help Save the Children protect the lives and enhance the futures of millions of vulnerable children in the United States and around the world by providing a special gift today. Please take advantage of a matching gift opportunity — your gift will be doubled — and help to support programs like this one.

Alfredo was making weekly home visits as an activista, or health volunteer, to educate families in the village of Bugane in the Xai Xai District of Mozambique. He saw that nine-month-old baby Joyce was sick and contacted Marianna Salvador Matavele, a community mobilizer, for her help and guidance. Community mobilizers are trained to deal with some illnesses, and refer others to a health clinic.

"Joyce had a fever, a common symptom of malaria," said Marianna, age 45. Marianna knew what could happen if baby Joyce did not receive quick help, five children in her village had died from the disease in 2007. She sent Joyce's mother, Artimiza, to the health clinic.

Artimiza walked 2 hours with baby Joyce to the Xai Xai District Health Clinic and was given life-saving medicine to treat Joyce's malaria.

Local teams of health care workers, like the one that saved Joyce's life, include a nurse at a district health clinic, a community mobilizer and activistas for each village. Until 2008, all participants were trained through a Save the Children program.

Nurse Alda Ndava from the Xai Xai District Health Clinic sees a change for the better. "The statistics show a drop in child mortality rates. But the biggest change is in the way people think," she says. 

The results of the program lead happy moms like Artimiza to provide free world-of-mouth advertising. "This is the first time I've used them," said Artimiza. "Now, I would tell other mothers to use their services. They helped me a lot."

Read more about the community outreach program in Mozambique

Find out more about Save the Children's work in Mozambique

You can help Save the Children protect the lives and enhance the futures of millions of vulnerable children in the United States and around the world by providing a special gift today. Please take advantage of a matching gift opportunity — your gift will be doubled — and help to support programs like this one.

Last Updated June 2009