Peace Hene, HealthKeepers Network.
Peace Hene hails from the Volta region of Ghana. She has been a volunteer health worker since 2012 and joined HealthKeepers Network about two years ago.
Peace says that among the most difficult aspects of her work is getting to hard-to-reach communities, especially during the rainy season because there is no transportation.
Peace doesn’t have much difficulty getting people to accept family planning because she has been in the community and has served them for a long time. She maintains good relations by showing her clients respect and keeping their information confidential. She reports that some women in the communities she works in now are using family planning because Peace convinced their husbands of its importance. Because they have confidence in her, Peace’s clients come to her for family planning and other health-related advice before seeking care at a clinic.
Peace would like to do more work to improve knowledge about family planning in other communities because many people either know nothing or have misconceptions about family planning. She knows that improving access to family planning has economic and health benefits.
Although her work is often exhausting, Peace loves it. Since she was a young girl she has wanted to be a nurse. Although she is a mother now, Peace’s work as a HealthKeeper is letting her keep that dream alive.
With additional funding provided by a grant awarded under Advancing Partners & Communities (APC), HealthKeepers Network is expanding their community-based family planning (CBFP) project. The CBFP project aims to reduce the gap between the demand and the supply of HIV prevention and family planning (FP) products. The program provides access to affordable contraception, including condoms and oral contraceptives, as well as other products and services.
