Community Health Volunteer's Training Manual - Population Council

Module 1 The CHPS Concept
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The selection process
Because volunteers work for free, it is important that those selected as volunteers love doing
volunteer work and be prepared to sacrifice some time to do it. Therefore, the process for
selecting health volunteers should be meticulous. This is to test the volunteer’s commitment
and ensure that the volunteer is responsible to the community when s/he starts work.
Induction of new members
After being selected by their community, volunteers should be introduced to their work.
During this period they should learn about what they are expected to do, how much time
they can commit, the benefits and risks associated with the work. All this is to assist the
volunteer to reflect and decide whether this is work they want to do.
Training and support
Volunteers need to be trained so that they can work effectively. To motivate volunteers
to love the work they do, they should be supported with logistics and regular supervision.
Many volunteers become motivated when their supervisor visits and encourages them.
Channels of communication
Volunteers have to work with and through people. As a result there are bound to be
problems with communication and sometimes conflicts might occur. Unless there is a way
of improving communication and resolving conflicts volunteers might be given a bad name
by their communities.
Case study 1.1.3
The people of Sakapia had been experiencing cholera outbreaks every year. When the
community embraced CHPS two years ago, cholera outbreaks ceased. Mensah who
was selected by the community as a volunteer had been going from house-to-house
educating the people about the importance of hand washing, personal and environmental
hygiene. This house-to-house campaign had resulted in the wear and tear of Mensah’s
rubber slippers popularly known as ‘Charlie wote’. Stones and thorns pierced Mensah’s
feet as he did his daily home visits. However it seemed like the community did not even
notice Mensah’s condition.
An NGO visited Sakapia village one day and saw the good work that Mensah was doing.
They were so impressed and moved that they decided to send him some used clothing
and shoes. They also invited him to big city to spend a few weeks to get some new
experiences and training.
Questions
1 What do you think motivated Mensah to continue to do the work of a volunteer?
2. What lessons can we learn from the case study?
3. What could the community have done to show their appreciation or motivate Mensah?