The Challenge
Maternal mortality remains a stubborn reality across Nigeria. In Ebonyi State, many women still give birth without skilled attendance — not because they don't want care, but because care cannot reach them. Distance, cost, and cultural barriers form a wall too high for many families to climb alone.
How We Responded
Eleje Legacy trained and deployed 18 community health workers (CHWs) across our programme communities in 2024. Each CHW is a trusted member of their own community — a neighbour, a fellow mother. They speak the language, they understand the culture, and they are already trusted.
Each CHW carries a programme kit including:
- Iron and folic acid supplements
- Oral rehydration salts
- Basic growth monitoring tools
- Immunisation tracking cards
- Emergency referral contacts
"When Mama Chidinma visited me in my third trimester, I felt seen for the first time. She didn't just give me supplements — she sat with me, listened to my fears, and explained everything in Igbo. That changed everything." — Programme beneficiary, Oguta Road
What the Numbers Show
In our first year of deploying community health workers:
- 1,200+ mothers received at least 4 antenatal visits
- 89% immunisation compliance among children under five in CHW catchment areas
- Zero maternal deaths recorded within our enrolled cohort in Q3–Q4 2025
Looking Forward
We are scaling this model. By end of 2026, we aim to deploy 36 CHWs across 24 communities. But we need your support to make it happen. Each CHW costs approximately ₦180,000 per year to train, equip, and support.
If every reader of this article donated ₦5,000, we could fund three additional CHWs for an entire year.
Every mother deserves care. Every community deserves health workers who look like them and love them.
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