Category: Community Health

We’re training local women to offer community health education and services in their villages, enabling couples to plan and better provide for their families, improving food security and boosting the sustainability of local conservation efforts.

Climate-resilient development? We’re doing it already!

What is resilience? And what does “climate-resilient development” actually mean?

/ Nov 30, 2015

Women’s groups take action to address emergency transport challenges for accessing maternal healthcare

In Madagascar—where women face a 1 in 43 lifetime risk of maternal death—community mobilisation can improve maternal health outcomes. In rural areas, clinics and hospitals are located far from many villages, which means that transport in emergency situations is vital...

/ Aug 7, 2015

Community health workers embrace mobile technology for smarter service delivery and reporting!

Following in the footsteps of our shark fishery monitoring initiative, community-based distributors of contraceptives in southwest Madagascar are embracing mobile technology for smarter service delivery and reporting.

/ Jul 31, 2015

New partnership brings vital health services to isolated fishing settlements in the Barren Isles archipelago

Blue Ventures links up with JSI/MAHEFA to provide family planning options and basic healthcare to remote communities in the Indian Ocean’s largest locally managed marine area.

/ Jul 30, 2015

Condoms, crabs and cottonii seaweed: progress update from Belo sur Mer

From humble beginnings over five years ago, locally led mangrove fishery management initiatives are now flourishing in Belo sur Mer and surrounding villages, alongside community-based health promotion and alternative coastal livelihoods in the form of aquaculture.

/ Jul 22, 2015

Call the midwife!

After months of passionate campaigning and thanks to strong collaboration with the Madagascar Ministry of Health, a government midwife has been placed in Andavadoaka!

/ May 19, 2015

Uncovering the hidden power of Population-Health-Environment programmes

Have you ever wondered how offering family planning to communities in Madagascar might be affecting the size of fish in the Mozambique Channel? Or how working with octopus gleaners may be impacting women’s use of contraception? Or how seaweed farming...

/ Nov 20, 2014

Increasing choice for women in Belo

Community health agents in and around Belo sur Mer are trained to offer contraceptive injections to women in their villages.

/ Sep 9, 2014
Vik shaking hands with Sir Crispen Tickell, with David Chenier (President, UK, ConocoPhillips) and Professor Louise Richardson (Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of St Andrews)

A victory for PHE: Blue Ventures wins the 2014 St Andrews Prize for the Environment

Against the elegant backdrop of the University of St Andrews, I spent an inspiring, exhausting, and at times terrifying three days, competing against two other finalists for the 2014 St Andrews Prize for the Environment.

/ Jun 4, 2014
CBD training role play

Thirsty for knowledge: community health worker training in Ankevo sur Mer

A recent review training session brought together all of the women working as community health agents in the Belo sur Mer area.

/ May 1, 2014

Celebrating women who inspire change

I'm currently volunteering with the Safidy programme in Andavadoaka, and was offered the opportunity to write this special blog post for International Women’s Day...

/ Mar 8, 2014

Filming with the stars

After years of wanting to tell the story of Blue Ventures' integrated Population-Health-Environment approach in a visual and personal way, the opportunity has finally arrived.

/ Mar 5, 2014

My medical elective with Blue Ventures in Andavadoaka, Madagascar

By Lousie Collingwood, medical elective student, Exeter, United Kingdom Madagascar is an incredible country, full of endemic wildlife and fringed by beautiful coral reefs. However, this wasn’t the only reason I decided to travel there for my medical elective… Blue...

/ Feb 25, 2014

How can rice sacks help prevent diarrhoea?

By Mahasoa Lahatse, Health Education and WASH Specialist, Velondriake, Madagascar It makes us, the Safidy community health team of Blue Ventures, happy to share with you this short story about sand-bag latrines. This story takes place in our village of Andavadoaka, where...

/ Jan 31, 2014

Family planning festivals sail into Belo sur Mer

By Lison Garrel, Safidy (Community Health) Programme Coordinator, Belo sur Mer, Madagascar Last month the commune of Belo sur Mer was in a party mood! And no, it wasn’t because of the rallies preceding the presidential election, it wasn’t because of...

/ Jan 29, 2014