{"id":13418,"date":"2019-03-27T09:55:35","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T09:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/?p=13418"},"modified":"2019-05-01T16:30:05","modified_gmt":"2019-05-01T15:30:05","slug":"the-role-of-safidy-reflecting-on-blue-ventures-community-health-programme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/the-role-of-safidy-reflecting-on-blue-ventures-community-health-programme\/","title":{"rendered":"The role of Safidy: reflecting on Blue Ventures\u2019 community health programme"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blue Ventures\u2019 <\/span>community health programme<\/span><\/a>, known in Madagascar as \u2018Safidy\u2019 – the Malagasy word for \u2018choice\u2019, had its <\/span>11 year anniversary<\/span><\/a> last year. Much has been accomplished in those 11 years and, we hope, much more is to come. <\/span><\/p>\n

Safidy has grown significantly <\/span>since its inception<\/span><\/a>, with teams in four of Blue Ventures\u2019 six sites in Madagascar, so it was more than time for all Safidy team members to come together, exchange experiences, and discuss the best ways to reach Blue Ventures\u2019 community health goals.<\/span><\/p>\n

This four-day Safidy retreat was held in southwestern Toliara, known as the City of the Sun because of its hot climate. As it was the first time many of us had met, the retreat began with some fun games and team-building exercises to help us get to know each other. This was a valuable part of the retreat for me, as I think we all developed stronger relationships that will help us work effectively together in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the role of Safidy?<\/b><\/h3>\n

After these fun introductions, we dived into a topic that is key to our work, and to BV as a whole: the true role of the Safidy programme. Why does a marine conservation organisation also work in community health?<\/span><\/p>\n

Safidy began in Velondriake, Madagascar\u2019s first <\/span>locally managed marine area<\/span><\/a>, where there was a huge unmet need for family planning. We listened to the needs of the communities we were working with, and expanded our work to include reproductive health education and services.<\/span><\/p>\n

We listened to the needs of the communities we were working with, and expanded our work to include reproductive health education and services.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Since those early days we\u2019ve discovered that supporting communities in this integrated way has wide-ranging benefits beyond community health. We\u2019ve witnessed encouraging advances in <\/span>gender equality in local marine resource management<\/span><\/a> thanks to the gradual elimination of barriers to community participation. In short, when people are in better health they may have more time and inclination to get involved in other activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

After this session I understood much better why BV has developed a <\/span>holistic approach<\/span><\/a> to conservation, and I know that the whole Safidy team was inspired to work in closer collaboration with their colleagues from other programmes. Joint missions with the conservation and aquaculture teams helps to spread Safidy\u2019s message to wider audiences, and increases community understanding that Safidy is the BV initiative that responds to health needs.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: Fran\u00e7ois Rakotoarisoa<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Photo: Rinah Rakotondrazaka<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

What are the goals of Safidy?<\/b><\/h3>\n

So now that we were all on the same page about Safidy\u2019s role, it was time to get down to the details of our short and long-term goals. What are we are aiming for over the coming years? <\/span><\/p>\n

In the long-term, we want to gradually transfer ownership of all Safidy activities to community health workers and Madagascar\u2019s Ministry of Public Health, as Blue Ventures\u2019 approach in every programme is to empower community autonomy and sustainability.<\/span><\/p>\n

To get a clearer idea of what short-term aims are necessary to achieve this, each site team shared the activities going on in their region, describing what they thought was working well and what could be improved. Seeing the similarities in successes and challenges between the sites encouraged collaborative problem solving between the teams, and everyone openly shared their ideas and advice as the presentations progressed.<\/span><\/p>\n

The presentations made clear that each site has particularities, as they have evolved according to the needs of the communities they\u2019re working with, but we also realised that some sites had missed key steps along the way that would have helped increase the effectiveness and impact of their activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

This led to a discussion on how best to standardise the Safidy programme across our sites to ensure that best practice is shared and that a logical order is followed to make success more measurable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Safidy\u2019s 2019 aims:<\/b><\/p>\n