Off is a collection of islands on Lake Maga, 7km away from Pouss, the closest mainland. The only means of getting to Off is by engine boat, and her inhabitants are mostly fishermen of the Mousgoum and Massa ethnic groups who use small canoes to fish, with the inherent risk of drowning and attacks by hippopotamuses on Lake Maga. They live in huts built on marshy patches of land.
For over 10 years, HA teams have not planned routine outreach vaccination sessions to Off, and when they do, the plans never come to fruition due to a lack of the necessary logistics. Consequently, children born or arrived on the islands during this period have not received routine vaccines and are either Zero-Dose Children (ZDC) or Under-immunised Children (UiC).
As such, it is not surprising that the inhabitants were amazed and excited to see the team of CHWs, including R4S field teams, reach their community. Before this session, a community mobilizer went door-to-door, line-listing ZDC and UiC under the age of five years.
“You made us feel like someone cares,” Miriama, a mother whose child was vaccinated, applauded.
The team identified and vaccinated 15 ZDC as they navigated on the boat to the homes of the identified children.
Without the R4S project Gavi is funding through the World Vision-led consortium, the ZDC would probably be the reservoir for the next epidemic of measles or polio, to name a few.
