March 1, 2024 • 32 mins
Johanna and Christey speak with Mercy Kafotokoza, the midwife and nurse tackling Malawi's alarming maternal and infant mortality rate head-on! Mercy discusses how she trains nurses to ride off-road motorbikes so they can ride over rugged terrain to treat the furthest away patients. She also provides an overview of the complex cultural context she works in where consulting witch doctors is the norm, and how lack of education around maternal health leads many women to hide their pregnancies in fear. Mercy also describes how her powerful nurses use culturally appropriate techniques (like song and dance!) to educate, treat and ultimately save thousands of women and children in rural Malawi. You'll love her!
Get Involved!
Learn more about Mercy's work and how you can support her to reach more mums and their babies here: justpeoples.org/leaders/mercy
Why Give a Buck?
Because with $2,160 USD Mercy can buy a motorbike, train a nurse to ride it, obtain her license, and cover fuel and maintenance costs for a year.
And with $15,672 USD one hundred women can receive comprehensive pre- and post-natal care, and emergency support from Mercy's nurses whenever they need it for themselves and their babies. These mothers and children will be given the best chance to survive and thrive!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Johanna (00:00):
Why Give a Buck? is proudly brought to you by Just
Peoples, an internationalnonprofit that directly connects
givers and doers to addressglobal poverty.
Hello, and welcome to Why Give aBuck? I'm Johanna de Burca,
Christey (00:20):
and I'm Christey West.
Johanna (00:22):
Each month on Why Give a Buck?, we highlight innovative
individuals tackling poverty intheir local communities across
Africa and Asia, and explore whywe should give a buck.
Christey (00:34):
For our first episode, we're super excited to introduce
you to one of the main reasonswe decided we need to launch a
podcast in the first place. Theincredible Mercy Kafotokoza.
Johanna (00:47):
When Christey and I first heard Mercy describing
growing up in rural Malawi, aplace where the only medical
care available came from thelocal witch doctor, and how her
uncle's tragic and preventabledeaths from a tooth infection
eventually led her to do theliterally life saving work that
she does today. We were like,this has to be heard.
Christey (01:08):
Absolutely, Mercy's story has to be heard. So today
we're speaking with Mercy aboutthe remarkable experiences she
had growing up that led her tonow train registered nurses to
ride serious off road motorbikesout to the remotest parts of
Malawi, so that pregnant women,new mothers and their babies can
receive quality medical care.
We're so happy to have you herewith us today. Mercy. Welcome.
Mercy (01:34):
Thank you so much for having me Christey and Jo.
Johanna (01:38):
Welcome, Mercy. You're the first leader whose work
we've supported in Malawi. Sowe're curious to understand a
little bit more about your home,tell us something special about
Malawi.
Mercy (01:50):
We live as a community, in my house, if do not have
food, I can easily go to aneighbor, and they'll give me
food. In the village, it'sdifferent households will cook.
And then they'll bring it at thesame time, then all the children
will be on one side or the womenon one side, or the men on one
side. So no one shouldn't behungry. My first time to go
(02:13):
outside of Africa. It was theUS. So to me, it was wow, this
is a different world. This is acompletely completely a
different world. But one thingthat I saw in the US when I went
there, it was people live alone,like individuality. That's what
I saw in the US. So that's thedifference here. We live as a
(02:36):
community, outside, people leaveas individuals. And that's one
of the things that I missed.
Then I went to I went toGermany, that country is just
too too clean for me. It wasjust
Christey (02:53):
don't come to Japan.
Mercy (02:57):
It was extremely too clean for me, and I think my
hosts, I was there for threeweeks. And my host said Mercy,
what are you missing in Africa?
Because you have been here forthree weeks?.What are you
missing? I said I'm missing dustI'm missing dust. This place is
just extremely too clean for me.
Johanna (03:18):
Wow, you can come and stay at my house Mercy you'll
feel you'll feel right at home!
Mercy (03:25):
Things are done in order.
Everything is orderly. And theplaces I just like you can see
even in the roads walking youcould not even see a leaf.
Anyway, it was extremely tooclean. Yes and no, I can't stand
this.
Johanna (03:45):
I don't think you should go and visit Christey in
Japan,
Christey (03:49):
Japan, it's pretty similar to Germany in that way.
That's so interesting. I used tolive in Vietnam. And I love it.
When I go back there. I feelreally free. It's just more
relaxed, you know, and there'smore dust around and there's
less rules and people will livein a community like you're
talking about not soindividualized and it feels like
(04:11):
it's more living from the heartrather than from the head
somehow. I feel you.
Johanna (04:22):
Well, Mercy, the freedom, the dust, the beautiful
sense of community. It soundswonderful. But at the same time,
Malawi is facing some reallyhuge challenges.
Mercy (04:35):
We do face some tough challenges and poverty is the
big one, we are among the top 10poorest countries in the world.
With 85% of Malawians livingbelow the poverty line.
Christey (04:52):
Malawi has one of the highest rates of infant and
maternal mortality. Do you mindexplaining a little bit about
why that is? Why the mortalityrate is so high amongst women
and infants?
Mercy (05:09):
Yeah, I think one of the reasons, is 80% of people live
in rural areas. So the majorityof Malawians live far from a
health facility, because inrural areas, the geographical
location of the remote areas, sothe distance to the next health
(05:29):
facility, and also the economicchallenges, and the social
beliefs or cultural beliefs. So,for example, if this woman is in
a rural area, when she becomespregnant, she has to fight the
cultural norms. So she will hidethe pregnancy up until maybe the
(05:51):
second trimester, because theshe has to hide it, she's afraid
if I tell someone that I'mpregnant, they are some beliefs
that okay, because ofwitchcraft, they will take away
my baby from my belly, so theyhide, so she fights the cultural
beliefs, after fighting thecultural beliefs, then she has
to fight the geographicalisolation or the terrain, it's a
(06:15):
very long distance. So all theseand also the financial barriers
because of poverty, this womanmay not have enough money to
hire public transport to gothere. So all these challenges
combined, they lead to delays.
Now we are going through foodinsecurities. It means this
woman will be thinking okay, ifI go 50 kilometers away from
(06:36):
where I am, what will happen tothe other children at home? What
will happen to them, who isgoing to help me with food 50
kilometers away from my home? Soall these things people weigh
up, should I go to the healthfacility? Or should I go to the
witch doctor, the witch doctoris close. And also some witch
doctors they provide food theywill provide porridge to make
(06:58):
sure their clients eat. But ifthey go to a far facility to a
public facility, most of thetimes there is no food so l'd
prefer to go to a witch doctorwhere i can find porridge then
walking 50 kilometres and thenI'll be starving.
Johanna (07:14):
Oh wow, I completely understand with all those
barriers to accessing healthfacilities. The witch doctors
are just so much moreaccessible. Do you mind sharing
with us what the experience ofgoing to a witch doctor is like
and what they actually do?
Mercy (07:30):
A witch doctor? It's like a general doctor. So they attend
to any kind of disease thathappens in the community. You
have diarrhea, you go to a witchdoctor, you fall. You break your
arm, you go to a witch doctor.
Johanna (07:47):
Do they give medicine - traditional medicines or
anything like that?
Mercy (07:52):
Yeah they give traditional medicines, herbs.
And yeah, like what happens, yougo to a clinic, you do
consultation? You havemedicines. So there you go to a
witch doctor, you doconsultations they give you
herbs.
Christey (08:07):
Are they generally effective for minor ailments?
Mercy (08:12):
You know, sometimes health it's about the belief.
Sometimes people get well,because they believe if I take
this, I will be well, but thereare some cases like for example,
TB, there is no way they can getwell, just by going to a witch
doctor. There is no way someonecan get well, if it's malaria,
it means they will delay thetime until they'll be thinking
of going to a health facility.
Johanna (08:33):
And what about the children are the children taken
to see the witch doctor as well?
Mercy (08:38):
When a child is sick, the very first thing they think of
it's a witch doctor, becausewitch doctors, they're closer to
them because of the knowledgedeficit. When a child is sick,
for example, malnutrition, if achild is malnourished, that
woman will be in trouble.
They'll be thinking she has anextramarital affair. That's why
this child has malnutrition. Sothe first thing is pressing on
(09:02):
this woman tell us what are youdoing? Why are you messing
around? Because this child ismalnourished they will not call
it malnourished. They'll callthere's these signs that we're
seeing in this baby. It showsyou have an extramarital affair.
Christey (09:19):
Oh, wow. So these are the sorts of traditional and
cultural beliefs in ruralMalawi. And that forms the
context within which you providematernity health care. That must
certainly add another layer ofcomplexity to things. So as a
child growing up within thiscultural context, what was it
that inspired you to become anurse?
Mercy (09:41):
So my parents got divorced when I was about six or
seven years old, and I grew upwith my maternal grandmother.
And when we were in the village,it was me, my grandmother and my
uncle. So one day my uncle saidhe didn't sleep and he was
complaining of pain. He said,I've got a very bad toothache
and my grandmother startedgiving him some herbs to put on
(10:04):
the tooth. And after three orfour days, it was so bad that he
said, No, I can't, I can'thandle this. And he was taken to
a local witch doctor wherebythey extracted the tooth. Back
home, it didn't heal and it gotinfected. So after it got
(10:24):
infected, my grandmother waskind of No, I think we need now
to go to the hospital. Thehospital was about 50 kilometres
from our village, and there wasno public transport. So we had
to use an oxcart, walk, oxcartwalk until we reach to the
hospital at around 3pm. And myuncle was really like, down,
down, down. And after theyexamined him two days later, he
(10:47):
died. So the infection was sobad that it spread to the brain.
And that's the way we lost him.
And my grandmother cried and shereally cried my son, my son.
Only if I had known that thiswill take your life. I could
have come with you to thehospital, earlier, maybe if only
I had come here earlier. And nowme being a young child and then
(11:10):
I look up to my grandmother thenI said no, no, don't worry. When
I grew up, I will be a nurse sothat no one in our community
should die, or in our familyshould die because of something
that can be treated, because atthe hospital, they said, If only
you had come here earlier, wecould have treated this, we
could have done the extractionhere. So fast forward, I grew
(11:32):
up, I became a nurse. The goodthing is my grandmother is still
alive. So she has seen all this.
Christey (11:40):
Oh, I'm so sorry that you and your grandmother went
through that Mercy. And I canimagine it must have just added
salt to the wound when thehospital staff told you that
they could have saved your Uncleif he had been able to get to
the hospital on time. But it'sso impressive that as a child,
you decided to do somethingabout this problem and resolved
(12:03):
to become a nurse off the backof it. I'm sure your uncle would
have been so proud of thatdecision. So you did become a
nurse and worked for severalyears at a regional hospital
before starting your ownorganization, Wandikweza,
focusing on maternal health carefor rural Malawians. What was it
that prompted you to leave sucha secure job and launch your own
(12:27):
organization.
Mercy (12:28):
I was in the labour ward one day. So a woman, she was I
think seven months pregnant, shewas pushed into the labor ward,
she became unconscious. So weprepared her to go to theater.
Unfortunately, we lost her onthe theater table. So two boys
were expected, like twins. Butafter two, three days, the twins
also died. So I went back to theguardians. And I said what
(12:51):
happened? And the guardian saidshe has been complaining of
headaches, she had swollen feet,but the husband was not around
to give us permission to takeher here. So we were waiting for
the husband and there was notransport and we had no money.
And then this clicked at theback of my mind reminded me
about my uncle, how it allhappened. And I said, Whoa, if
(13:15):
only maybe they could have comehere earlier. We could have
saved this life. We could havesaved the life of the mother, we
could have saved the life of thebabies. So I said no, I think I
need to do something. I'm herein the ward waiting for patients
to come, waiting forcomplications to come. What if
we go into the community andprevent complications from
(13:37):
happening, and empower women,and empower the community so
that they should be able toidentify complications and
danger, warning signs beforethey happen so that we go to the
hospital on time. So I resignedand started Wandikweza. So
that's how Wandikweza was born,
Christey (13:55):
oh my goodness, that dear woman and her twin babies.
Oh, another extremely powerfulmoment where you took an
absolute tragedy and turned itinto a catalyst to create the
change that was needed. I lovedit when you said why wait for
complications to come into thehospital ward, we need to be out
(14:16):
in the communities preventingcomplications from arising in
the first place. Yes. But it's avery brave move to quit a stable
job and start somethingcompletely new, even changing
the way people receive healthcare. So what actions did you
take? How did you get Wandikwezaoff the ground?
Mercy (14:37):
So in 2014 to 2016 I was learning more about the
community complexities, buildingrelationships with the
community, learning how thingsare done learning the culture.
So by the way, where Wandikwezawe are it's not my own village,
but it's still in Malawi and theproblems are the same. So that's
(14:58):
why it took me time to Learnabout the cultural context of
the community where I was, howpeople conduct things like, as
simple as attending weddingceremonies, as simple as
attending our funerals andsitting with the women. So in
2016, that's when we startedwith community health worker
program training women. So westarted with 15 women, so the
(15:21):
first program, our training washow they can identify danger
signs in pregnancy, and makereferrals.
Christey (15:29):
Wow, sounds like you really did your research. I love
how you took the time to engagewith the local culture of each
new village and build those keyrelationships. They're so
important. Okay, so you startedout by training 15 health care
workers, where are you at now?
Mercy (15:45):
We have now 130 community health workers that proactively
search for patients through doorto door home visits, and they
make referrals. We also runmobile clinics. So the mobile
clinics, we go into eightdifferent places, eight times a
month. With the mobile clinics,we have a team of medical
personnel, we go into areas likewe can travel in 25 kilometers.
(16:09):
So that provide the servicescloser to the people. That's our
motto of care closer to thepeople. So we go where the
people are, treat in makereferrals or check patients, if
we cannot provide all thetreatment that is needed at the
community level. We also havenurses on bikes. So the nurses
on bikes, we started them in2020. After seeing the gap that
(16:33):
is between going to the facilityinto the community health
worker, there's things thatthey're going to walk away
cannot do. For example, if achild is convulsing, 20
kilometers away from a healthfacility. There's no public
transport, even if the publictransport might be there. They
could have no money to go there.
The nurses on bikes provide thenecessary care at the doorstep.
(16:57):
So what happens is, if a childfor example, is convulsing, they
make a call to an nurse on abike, in village B, my child is
convulsing. So the nurse on abike ride on a motorbike and
then they go there within 30minutes. So they are stationed
in places whereby they should goto get to their furthest point,
(17:18):
within 30 minutes, they shouldbe there. But it depends on the
distance, sometimes it's fiveminutes, 10 minutes, but the
furthest, it's 30 minutes. Sothese go in this household,
stabilize the patient, and makereferrals if there's a need for
referrals. If someone isbleeding, if someone fell, for
example, something that needsemergency care, the nurses on
(17:40):
bikes will take care of that.
But on top of that, they alsohave 10 scheduled visits
antenatally. So they take awoman from pregnancy, making
sure they attend all theantenatal visits until the child
is born. When the child is born,they have 10 scheduled visits
(18:00):
until the child is five yearsold.
Christey (18:03):
My husband runs a motor bike company and I showed
him pictures of your nurses onbikes and he was like they are
serious off road bikes. I thinkthat's very impressive. He
thought it was such a coolproject using these kind of off
road bikes to get nurses out toremote areas. It just makes so
much sense when you think aboutit. Because of course, there are
not going to be ambulances thatcan drive on that terrain. It
(18:25):
has to be an off road bike. Soincredible that you're training
nurses to do that job. I wouldlove to be a nurse on bike too.
This sounds so cool. They've gotso much purpose and then they
solve these problems. Powerful
Mercy (18:38):
Powerful women, super women.
Johanna (18:42):
So earlier we heard that Malawi has one of the
highest maternal mortality ratesin the world. Have you seen a
reduction in these deaths withinthe villages you work in since
your nurses started travelingout there?
Mercy (18:57):
We have never in the past three years, we have never had
any maternal death.
Christey (19:02):
That is so wonderful mercy. Congratulations. How many
mothers and babies are youreaching each month with the
nurses on bikes program?
Mercy (19:12):
So we have 14 nurses on bikes and we are reaching 1000
to 1500 per month of women andchildren.
Christey (19:22):
Oh, that's incredible.
And so is that all prenatalantenatal visits or what sort of
services do the nurses provide?
Mercy (19:33):
So before pregnancy they make sure the women of
childbearing age have access tofamily planning services. And
during pregnancy, they haveaccess to antenatal services
make sure they identifycomplications and make referrals
or treat on time, making surethis woman has attended four or
(19:56):
eight antenatal visits duringpregnancy and also during
childbirth, making sure thiswoman gives birth at a health
facility with a skilled birthattendant and after pregnancy,
the postnatal care, and theyhave 10 scheduled visits and to
the child is five years old.
Christey (20:16):
Fantastic. Wow. So they're really seeing through
the whole journey from pregnancybirth and to make sure kids are
healthy.
Johanna (20:25):
Wonderful. And what's next? What's your vision for the
work that you're doing with thenurses on bikes?
Mercy (20:32):
So currently, we are in two districts we are in Doha and
Mangochi and Malawi has 28districts. So our vision is to
have these nurses on bikesproviding the quality Maternal
and Child Health Services at thedoorstep across Malawi or the 28
districts. That's where we aregoing.
Johanna (20:53):
That's brilliant, missy. So you proved the model
is really effective and that itworks and now it's time to scale
it up. Do the nurses enjoyriding the motorbikes?
Mercy (21:05):
Yes, they do like riding the motorbikes and in the
community they are perceived asyou know, angels on two wheels.
That's right. Yes, they're armedwith the medical equipment. And
also they are big smiles. Sothey are angels on two wheels in
the communities and they alsomotivate the girl child you
(21:29):
know, it's not easy to see awoman riding a motorbike in the
in the rural areas. So they alsoact as role models to a girl
child.
Christey (21:40):
That's awesome. It's such a powerful vision of a
woman, isn't it? The motorbike,the profession, the nurses
coming in saving the day doingincredible work. What a vision.
I love it.
Johanna (21:52):
Christey used to ride a motorbike when she lived in
Vietnam, when I would go andvisit it was pretty terrifying
riding around the streets ofHanoi on the back with Christey.
I'm not sure I'd describeChristey as a as an angel on two
wheels in those days.
Christey (22:11):
I'm not sure I could do it now.
Johanna (22:13):
She's the brave one of the two of us.
Christey (22:15):
I'm not as reckless as I used to be there. So I'm not
sure
Johanna (22:20):
that's true. Yeah.
Since you became a mother,you've definitely become a
little bit more serious andresponsible Christey.
Christey (22:27):
Yeah, safety first these days.
Johanna (22:30):
So Mercy, you're having some brilliant success in the
two districts that you'reworking in currently, in terms
of reducing the mortality rates.
What sort of success are youseeing in terms of changing
behaviors around seeking medicalcare throughout pregnancy and
for children under five?
Mercy (22:49):
In our catchment areas, 75% of women start antenatal
care in the first trimester. Sothis is an increase from 40%
when we started the nurses onbikes program, so you can see
40% to 75% now women startingantenatal care in the first
trimester. That's why we want tospread our program across
(23:12):
Malawi, so that we deal withthese traditional beliefs. And
this is one of the majorchallenges that nurses on bikes
had to fight with. When weinitiated the nurses on bikes
program. Still women could nottrust the nurses on bikes,
they're hiding their pregnancy.
Especially in the first year,they were hiding their
pregnancies. They didn't trustthe nurses. So it also took time
(23:34):
for the nurses to developrelationships with the women and
the communities and thecommunity leaders. So it doesn't
happen overnight. It takes timeto develop relationships.
Christey (23:49):
Absolutely. Wow, they're doing very, very deep
work out there changingtraditional beliefs to bring
pregnancies out in the open andto help women and babies access
quality care.
Mercy (24:03):
And because since 2021, in the areas that we have the
nurses on bikes program, we havenever seen any maternal death.
So people see the importance ofstarting antenatal care in the
first trimester going throughall the services or the
immunizations, or the vitaminsthat are supposed to be taking
or the screening and the resultsis you don't die with your
(24:27):
pregnancy, you're going to givebirth to a bouncing baby boy or
girl, so it's not all thesemyths are just beliefs. But if
you do A,B,C,D and E, you haveall the care, you're going to
have your baby and you're notgoing to die. And you know
tracing the babies up until thebaby is five years old. It also
(24:50):
adds value to the nurses onbikes program. And also during
this time, they are in thecommunity having chats with the
community learning more abouttheir cultural beliefs in seeing
how best they can deal withharmful cultural beliefs.
Because not all beliefs are bador harmful. There are some that
are good cultural beliefs.
Christey (25:11):
Yeah. Absolutely. Wow, how interesting. And how deeply
transformative.
Mercy (25:19):
Thank you.
Christey (25:20):
Thank you so much Mercy for explaining the
intricacies of your work. Andfor going deeper into the
complexities of the problem thatyou are solving. And, you know,
it's it's very cool. The nurseson bike and providing health
care, people understand it. Butwhen you go into the deep
layers, you know, and the longerterm work that you're doing
(25:43):
short term, woman by woman,you're saving lives, but also
long term, you'll be savingentire communities as these
belief systems gradually change.
And getting care from the firsttrimester becomes the way to do
it. And I just loved how youexplained. If you do A,B,C,D,
and E, you will have a bouncingbaby and you will not die. It's
(26:03):
fantastic. Who wouldn't sign upfor that?! Once they understand.
Johanna (26:15):
And Mercy. It's incredible that you're having
these fabulous results, and thatthe women and community members
are beginning to see that thoseresults are speaking for
themselves and changingbehaviors. But how do the nurses
even approach actuallysuggesting that women change
(26:38):
their approach to something aspersonal as healthcare when it's
at such odds with their culturalbeliefs?
Mercy (26:46):
Malawians, we like dancing a lot. And even when I'm
working at home, I'm doinghousehold chores. I'm always
listening to traditional music,then I'm dancing. And most of
our health education is throughmusic and dancing. The nurses on
bikes, they'll be providingfamily planning education,
through music and dancing. So wedo it like this. **Mercy sings
(27:20):
and dances**
Johanna (27:32):
Christey, I wish we decided to do a video podcast,
it was so wonderful to see yourdancing Mercy. I feel sad that
our listeners weren't able tosee that, too. That was
beautiful. Thank you.
Christey (27:44):
That's so cool.
What's the meaning.
Mercy (27:47):
So they're saying, If you don't practice family planning,
you'll be so busy, you'll be sobusy, you don't have time to
take care of yourself. Becauseyou're always taking care of
children, you are pregnant. Andat the same time, you have
another baby that is only maybea year who in some months at
your back. And then you have ababy. So all these babies cannot
(28:09):
walk. They are all over you. Theother one at your back, the
other one here. And you alsohave a load on your head, and
you're pregnant. So all of thisaround you, please, woman take
care of yourself.
Christey (28:26):
Wow. So the nurses on bikes know these songs and they
go out and they perform thesongs and they teach through the
dance.
Johanna (28:34):
it's beautiful to see that you have so much joy in
terms of your work as well. It'sbeautiful to watch that fun and
watch that joy throughout yourwork.
Mercy (28:43):
My pleasure. And thank you so much for having me. And
we don't take this for granted.
And thank you for being ourvoice.
Johanna (28:51):
We want to bring your beautiful voice to the world
because your story really needsto be here. It's wonderful.
Mercy (28:58):
Awesome.
Christey (28:59):
I love that point. You just said about the joy Jo,
because actually Mercy, Jo and Ioften say that Just Peoples has
to be fun. You know, if we getstressed, we always try and
recenter on enjoying thewonderful work that we get to be
a part of. And so thisconversation was so joyful. It's
why Jo and I do our work becausewe get to speak to people like
(29:24):
you that just do incredible workin this passionate and joyful
way.
Johanna (29:30):
In my head. I'm booking a trip to Malawi.
Christey (29:32):
Yeah for sure. We're coming, we're clapping, we're
dancing. we're riding thosebikes. I'm going to take the
herbs.
Mercy (29:45):
We need people like you to walk alongside us. We know
the we are close to thecommunity. Our proximity makes
us good to do what we are doing,but we also need you to walk
alongside us. Thank you so muchfor this time. It was like my
time to charge my time to ventwhat is inside me. This also
like kind of a therapy - I'vetalked, I've danced, I've sang.
(30:09):
Thank you so much.
Johanna (30:11):
For anyone listening who is interested in learning
more, or supporting Mercy'svision to roll out her nurses on
bikes offering across ruralMalawi, you can visit
justpeoples.org/leaders/mercy.
You can find these details inthe show notes. To give you some
context of how much your supportcan help Mercy achieve, with a
(30:33):
little over 2000 US dollars,Mercy can purchase a new
motorbike and driver training toget another nurse on bike on the
road and backing Mercy with15,000 US dollars will enable
her team to provide one year'sworth of comprehensive health
care to 100 rural Malawian mumsand their babies.
Christey (31:00):
And a final question, you mentioned that your
grandmother is still alive. Isshe proud of you?
Mercy (31:08):
She is she's now 97 years old. And sometimes when I'm
happy I call her. Or when shefeels like she calls me. How
many lives have you saved? Istill talk to her and she says
she's always thankful that shehas lived to see this today.
Johanna (31:29):
Why Give a Buck? is proudly brought to you by Just
Peoples, an internationalnonprofit that connects givers
directly with local leaders atthe forefront of tackling
poverty in the local communitiesacross Africa and Asia. You can
learn more and directly supportthe work of mercy and other
inspiring leaders by visitingjustpeoples.org
Why Give a Buck? is proudly brought to you by Just
Peoples, an internationalnonprofit that directly connects
givers and doers to addressglobal poverty.
Hello, and welcome to Why Give aBuck? I'm Johanna de Burca,
Christey (00:20):
and I'm Christey West.
Johanna (00:22):
Each month on Why Give a Buck?, we highlight innovative
individuals tackling poverty intheir local communities across
Africa and Asia, and explore whywe should give a buck.
Christey (00:34):
For our first episode, we're super excited to introduce
you to one of the main reasonswe decided we need to launch a
podcast in the first place. Theincredible Mercy Kafotokoza.
Johanna (00:47):
When Christey and I first heard Mercy describing
growing up in rural Malawi, aplace where the only medical
care available came from thelocal witch doctor, and how her
uncle's tragic and preventabledeaths from a tooth infection
eventually led her to do theliterally life saving work that
she does today. We were like,this has to be heard.
Christey (01:08):
Absolutely, Mercy's story has to be heard. So today
we're speaking with Mercy aboutthe remarkable experiences she
had growing up that led her tonow train registered nurses to
ride serious off road motorbikesout to the remotest parts of
Malawi, so that pregnant women,new mothers and their babies can
receive quality medical care.
We're so happy to have you herewith us today. Mercy. Welcome.
Mercy (01:34):
Thank you so much for having me Christey and Jo.
Johanna (01:38):
Welcome, Mercy. You're the first leader whose work
we've supported in Malawi. Sowe're curious to understand a
little bit more about your home,tell us something special about
Malawi.
Mercy (01:50):
We live as a community, in my house, if do not have
food, I can easily go to aneighbor, and they'll give me
food. In the village, it'sdifferent households will cook.
And then they'll bring it at thesame time, then all the children
will be on one side or the womenon one side, or the men on one
side. So no one shouldn't behungry. My first time to go
(02:13):
outside of Africa. It was theUS. So to me, it was wow, this
is a different world. This is acompletely completely a
different world. But one thingthat I saw in the US when I went
there, it was people live alone,like individuality. That's what
I saw in the US. So that's thedifference here. We live as a
(02:36):
community, outside, people leaveas individuals. And that's one
of the things that I missed.
Then I went to I went toGermany, that country is just
too too clean for me. It wasjust
Christey (02:53):
don't come to Japan.
Mercy (02:57):
It was extremely too clean for me, and I think my
hosts, I was there for threeweeks. And my host said Mercy,
what are you missing in Africa?
Because you have been here forthree weeks?.What are you
missing? I said I'm missing dustI'm missing dust. This place is
just extremely too clean for me.
Johanna (03:18):
Wow, you can come and stay at my house Mercy you'll
feel you'll feel right at home!
Mercy (03:25):
Things are done in order.
Everything is orderly. And theplaces I just like you can see
even in the roads walking youcould not even see a leaf.
Anyway, it was extremely tooclean. Yes and no, I can't stand
this.
Johanna (03:45):
I don't think you should go and visit Christey in
Japan,
Christey (03:49):
Japan, it's pretty similar to Germany in that way.
That's so interesting. I used tolive in Vietnam. And I love it.
When I go back there. I feelreally free. It's just more
relaxed, you know, and there'smore dust around and there's
less rules and people will livein a community like you're
talking about not soindividualized and it feels like
(04:11):
it's more living from the heartrather than from the head
somehow. I feel you.
Johanna (04:22):
Well, Mercy, the freedom, the dust, the beautiful
sense of community. It soundswonderful. But at the same time,
Malawi is facing some reallyhuge challenges.
Mercy (04:35):
We do face some tough challenges and poverty is the
big one, we are among the top 10poorest countries in the world.
With 85% of Malawians livingbelow the poverty line.
Christey (04:52):
Malawi has one of the highest rates of infant and
maternal mortality. Do you mindexplaining a little bit about
why that is? Why the mortalityrate is so high amongst women
and infants?
Mercy (05:09):
Yeah, I think one of the reasons, is 80% of people live
in rural areas. So the majorityof Malawians live far from a
health facility, because inrural areas, the geographical
location of the remote areas, sothe distance to the next health
(05:29):
facility, and also the economicchallenges, and the social
beliefs or cultural beliefs. So,for example, if this woman is in
a rural area, when she becomespregnant, she has to fight the
cultural norms. So she will hidethe pregnancy up until maybe the
(05:51):
second trimester, because theshe has to hide it, she's afraid
if I tell someone that I'mpregnant, they are some beliefs
that okay, because ofwitchcraft, they will take away
my baby from my belly, so theyhide, so she fights the cultural
beliefs, after fighting thecultural beliefs, then she has
to fight the geographicalisolation or the terrain, it's a
(06:15):
very long distance. So all theseand also the financial barriers
because of poverty, this womanmay not have enough money to
hire public transport to gothere. So all these challenges
combined, they lead to delays.
Now we are going through foodinsecurities. It means this
woman will be thinking okay, ifI go 50 kilometers away from
(06:36):
where I am, what will happen tothe other children at home? What
will happen to them, who isgoing to help me with food 50
kilometers away from my home? Soall these things people weigh
up, should I go to the healthfacility? Or should I go to the
witch doctor, the witch doctoris close. And also some witch
doctors they provide food theywill provide porridge to make
(06:58):
sure their clients eat. But ifthey go to a far facility to a
public facility, most of thetimes there is no food so l'd
prefer to go to a witch doctorwhere i can find porridge then
walking 50 kilometres and thenI'll be starving.
Johanna (07:14):
Oh wow, I completely understand with all those
barriers to accessing healthfacilities. The witch doctors
are just so much moreaccessible. Do you mind sharing
with us what the experience ofgoing to a witch doctor is like
and what they actually do?
Mercy (07:30):
A witch doctor? It's like a general doctor. So they attend
to any kind of disease thathappens in the community. You
have diarrhea, you go to a witchdoctor, you fall. You break your
arm, you go to a witch doctor.
Johanna (07:47):
Do they give medicine - traditional medicines or
anything like that?
Mercy (07:52):
Yeah they give traditional medicines, herbs.
And yeah, like what happens, yougo to a clinic, you do
consultation? You havemedicines. So there you go to a
witch doctor, you doconsultations they give you
herbs.
Christey (08:07):
Are they generally effective for minor ailments?
Mercy (08:12):
You know, sometimes health it's about the belief.
Sometimes people get well,because they believe if I take
this, I will be well, but thereare some cases like for example,
TB, there is no way they can getwell, just by going to a witch
doctor. There is no way someonecan get well, if it's malaria,
it means they will delay thetime until they'll be thinking
of going to a health facility.
Johanna (08:33):
And what about the children are the children taken
to see the witch doctor as well?
Mercy (08:38):
When a child is sick, the very first thing they think of
it's a witch doctor, becausewitch doctors, they're closer to
them because of the knowledgedeficit. When a child is sick,
for example, malnutrition, if achild is malnourished, that
woman will be in trouble.
They'll be thinking she has anextramarital affair. That's why
this child has malnutrition. Sothe first thing is pressing on
(09:02):
this woman tell us what are youdoing? Why are you messing
around? Because this child ismalnourished they will not call
it malnourished. They'll callthere's these signs that we're
seeing in this baby. It showsyou have an extramarital affair.
Christey (09:19):
Oh, wow. So these are the sorts of traditional and
cultural beliefs in ruralMalawi. And that forms the
context within which you providematernity health care. That must
certainly add another layer ofcomplexity to things. So as a
child growing up within thiscultural context, what was it
that inspired you to become anurse?
Mercy (09:41):
So my parents got divorced when I was about six or
seven years old, and I grew upwith my maternal grandmother.
And when we were in the village,it was me, my grandmother and my
uncle. So one day my uncle saidhe didn't sleep and he was
complaining of pain. He said,I've got a very bad toothache
and my grandmother startedgiving him some herbs to put on
(10:04):
the tooth. And after three orfour days, it was so bad that he
said, No, I can't, I can'thandle this. And he was taken to
a local witch doctor wherebythey extracted the tooth. Back
home, it didn't heal and it gotinfected. So after it got
(10:24):
infected, my grandmother waskind of No, I think we need now
to go to the hospital. Thehospital was about 50 kilometres
from our village, and there wasno public transport. So we had
to use an oxcart, walk, oxcartwalk until we reach to the
hospital at around 3pm. And myuncle was really like, down,
down, down. And after theyexamined him two days later, he
(10:47):
died. So the infection was sobad that it spread to the brain.
And that's the way we lost him.
And my grandmother cried and shereally cried my son, my son.
Only if I had known that thiswill take your life. I could
have come with you to thehospital, earlier, maybe if only
I had come here earlier. And nowme being a young child and then
(11:10):
I look up to my grandmother thenI said no, no, don't worry. When
I grew up, I will be a nurse sothat no one in our community
should die, or in our familyshould die because of something
that can be treated, because atthe hospital, they said, If only
you had come here earlier, wecould have treated this, we
could have done the extractionhere. So fast forward, I grew
(11:32):
up, I became a nurse. The goodthing is my grandmother is still
alive. So she has seen all this.
Christey (11:40):
Oh, I'm so sorry that you and your grandmother went
through that Mercy. And I canimagine it must have just added
salt to the wound when thehospital staff told you that
they could have saved your Uncleif he had been able to get to
the hospital on time. But it'sso impressive that as a child,
you decided to do somethingabout this problem and resolved
(12:03):
to become a nurse off the backof it. I'm sure your uncle would
have been so proud of thatdecision. So you did become a
nurse and worked for severalyears at a regional hospital
before starting your ownorganization, Wandikweza,
focusing on maternal health carefor rural Malawians. What was it
that prompted you to leave sucha secure job and launch your own
(12:27):
organization.
Mercy (12:28):
I was in the labour ward one day. So a woman, she was I
think seven months pregnant, shewas pushed into the labor ward,
she became unconscious. So weprepared her to go to theater.
Unfortunately, we lost her onthe theater table. So two boys
were expected, like twins. Butafter two, three days, the twins
also died. So I went back to theguardians. And I said what
(12:51):
happened? And the guardian saidshe has been complaining of
headaches, she had swollen feet,but the husband was not around
to give us permission to takeher here. So we were waiting for
the husband and there was notransport and we had no money.
And then this clicked at theback of my mind reminded me
about my uncle, how it allhappened. And I said, Whoa, if
(13:15):
only maybe they could have comehere earlier. We could have
saved this life. We could havesaved the life of the mother, we
could have saved the life of thebabies. So I said no, I think I
need to do something. I'm herein the ward waiting for patients
to come, waiting forcomplications to come. What if
we go into the community andprevent complications from
(13:37):
happening, and empower women,and empower the community so
that they should be able toidentify complications and
danger, warning signs beforethey happen so that we go to the
hospital on time. So I resignedand started Wandikweza. So
that's how Wandikweza was born,
Christey (13:55):
oh my goodness, that dear woman and her twin babies.
Oh, another extremely powerfulmoment where you took an
absolute tragedy and turned itinto a catalyst to create the
change that was needed. I lovedit when you said why wait for
complications to come into thehospital ward, we need to be out
(14:16):
in the communities preventingcomplications from arising in
the first place. Yes. But it's avery brave move to quit a stable
job and start somethingcompletely new, even changing
the way people receive healthcare. So what actions did you
take? How did you get Wandikwezaoff the ground?
Mercy (14:37):
So in 2014 to 2016 I was learning more about the
community complexities, buildingrelationships with the
community, learning how thingsare done learning the culture.
So by the way, where Wandikwezawe are it's not my own village,
but it's still in Malawi and theproblems are the same. So that's
(14:58):
why it took me time to Learnabout the cultural context of
the community where I was, howpeople conduct things like, as
simple as attending weddingceremonies, as simple as
attending our funerals andsitting with the women. So in
2016, that's when we startedwith community health worker
program training women. So westarted with 15 women, so the
(15:21):
first program, our training washow they can identify danger
signs in pregnancy, and makereferrals.
Christey (15:29):
Wow, sounds like you really did your research. I love
how you took the time to engagewith the local culture of each
new village and build those keyrelationships. They're so
important. Okay, so you startedout by training 15 health care
workers, where are you at now?
Mercy (15:45):
We have now 130 community health workers that proactively
search for patients through doorto door home visits, and they
make referrals. We also runmobile clinics. So the mobile
clinics, we go into eightdifferent places, eight times a
month. With the mobile clinics,we have a team of medical
personnel, we go into areas likewe can travel in 25 kilometers.
(16:09):
So that provide the servicescloser to the people. That's our
motto of care closer to thepeople. So we go where the
people are, treat in makereferrals or check patients, if
we cannot provide all thetreatment that is needed at the
community level. We also havenurses on bikes. So the nurses
on bikes, we started them in2020. After seeing the gap that
(16:33):
is between going to the facilityinto the community health
worker, there's things thatthey're going to walk away
cannot do. For example, if achild is convulsing, 20
kilometers away from a healthfacility. There's no public
transport, even if the publictransport might be there. They
could have no money to go there.
The nurses on bikes provide thenecessary care at the doorstep.
(16:57):
So what happens is, if a childfor example, is convulsing, they
make a call to an nurse on abike, in village B, my child is
convulsing. So the nurse on abike ride on a motorbike and
then they go there within 30minutes. So they are stationed
in places whereby they should goto get to their furthest point,
(17:18):
within 30 minutes, they shouldbe there. But it depends on the
distance, sometimes it's fiveminutes, 10 minutes, but the
furthest, it's 30 minutes. Sothese go in this household,
stabilize the patient, and makereferrals if there's a need for
referrals. If someone isbleeding, if someone fell, for
example, something that needsemergency care, the nurses on
(17:40):
bikes will take care of that.
But on top of that, they alsohave 10 scheduled visits
antenatally. So they take awoman from pregnancy, making
sure they attend all theantenatal visits until the child
is born. When the child is born,they have 10 scheduled visits
(18:00):
until the child is five yearsold.
Christey (18:03):
My husband runs a motor bike company and I showed
him pictures of your nurses onbikes and he was like they are
serious off road bikes. I thinkthat's very impressive. He
thought it was such a coolproject using these kind of off
road bikes to get nurses out toremote areas. It just makes so
much sense when you think aboutit. Because of course, there are
not going to be ambulances thatcan drive on that terrain. It
(18:25):
has to be an off road bike. Soincredible that you're training
nurses to do that job. I wouldlove to be a nurse on bike too.
This sounds so cool. They've gotso much purpose and then they
solve these problems. Powerful
Mercy (18:38):
Powerful women, super women.
Johanna (18:42):
So earlier we heard that Malawi has one of the
highest maternal mortality ratesin the world. Have you seen a
reduction in these deaths withinthe villages you work in since
your nurses started travelingout there?
Mercy (18:57):
We have never in the past three years, we have never had
any maternal death.
Christey (19:02):
That is so wonderful mercy. Congratulations. How many
mothers and babies are youreaching each month with the
nurses on bikes program?
Mercy (19:12):
So we have 14 nurses on bikes and we are reaching 1000
to 1500 per month of women andchildren.
Christey (19:22):
Oh, that's incredible.
And so is that all prenatalantenatal visits or what sort of
services do the nurses provide?
Mercy (19:33):
So before pregnancy they make sure the women of
childbearing age have access tofamily planning services. And
during pregnancy, they haveaccess to antenatal services
make sure they identifycomplications and make referrals
or treat on time, making surethis woman has attended four or
(19:56):
eight antenatal visits duringpregnancy and also during
childbirth, making sure thiswoman gives birth at a health
facility with a skilled birthattendant and after pregnancy,
the postnatal care, and theyhave 10 scheduled visits and to
the child is five years old.
Christey (20:16):
Fantastic. Wow. So they're really seeing through
the whole journey from pregnancybirth and to make sure kids are
healthy.
Johanna (20:25):
Wonderful. And what's next? What's your vision for the
work that you're doing with thenurses on bikes?
Mercy (20:32):
So currently, we are in two districts we are in Doha and
Mangochi and Malawi has 28districts. So our vision is to
have these nurses on bikesproviding the quality Maternal
and Child Health Services at thedoorstep across Malawi or the 28
districts. That's where we aregoing.
Johanna (20:53):
That's brilliant, missy. So you proved the model
is really effective and that itworks and now it's time to scale
it up. Do the nurses enjoyriding the motorbikes?
Mercy (21:05):
Yes, they do like riding the motorbikes and in the
community they are perceived asyou know, angels on two wheels.
That's right. Yes, they're armedwith the medical equipment. And
also they are big smiles. Sothey are angels on two wheels in
the communities and they alsomotivate the girl child you
(21:29):
know, it's not easy to see awoman riding a motorbike in the
in the rural areas. So they alsoact as role models to a girl
child.
Christey (21:40):
That's awesome. It's such a powerful vision of a
woman, isn't it? The motorbike,the profession, the nurses
coming in saving the day doingincredible work. What a vision.
I love it.
Johanna (21:52):
Christey used to ride a motorbike when she lived in
Vietnam, when I would go andvisit it was pretty terrifying
riding around the streets ofHanoi on the back with Christey.
I'm not sure I'd describeChristey as a as an angel on two
wheels in those days.
Christey (22:11):
I'm not sure I could do it now.
Johanna (22:13):
She's the brave one of the two of us.
Christey (22:15):
I'm not as reckless as I used to be there. So I'm not
sure
Johanna (22:20):
that's true. Yeah.
Since you became a mother,you've definitely become a
little bit more serious andresponsible Christey.
Christey (22:27):
Yeah, safety first these days.
Johanna (22:30):
So Mercy, you're having some brilliant success in the
two districts that you'reworking in currently, in terms
of reducing the mortality rates.
What sort of success are youseeing in terms of changing
behaviors around seeking medicalcare throughout pregnancy and
for children under five?
Mercy (22:49):
In our catchment areas, 75% of women start antenatal
care in the first trimester. Sothis is an increase from 40%
when we started the nurses onbikes program, so you can see
40% to 75% now women startingantenatal care in the first
trimester. That's why we want tospread our program across
(23:12):
Malawi, so that we deal withthese traditional beliefs. And
this is one of the majorchallenges that nurses on bikes
had to fight with. When weinitiated the nurses on bikes
program. Still women could nottrust the nurses on bikes,
they're hiding their pregnancy.
Especially in the first year,they were hiding their
pregnancies. They didn't trustthe nurses. So it also took time
(23:34):
for the nurses to developrelationships with the women and
the communities and thecommunity leaders. So it doesn't
happen overnight. It takes timeto develop relationships.
Christey (23:49):
Absolutely. Wow, they're doing very, very deep
work out there changingtraditional beliefs to bring
pregnancies out in the open andto help women and babies access
quality care.
Mercy (24:03):
And because since 2021, in the areas that we have the
nurses on bikes program, we havenever seen any maternal death.
So people see the importance ofstarting antenatal care in the
first trimester going throughall the services or the
immunizations, or the vitaminsthat are supposed to be taking
or the screening and the resultsis you don't die with your
(24:27):
pregnancy, you're going to givebirth to a bouncing baby boy or
girl, so it's not all thesemyths are just beliefs. But if
you do A,B,C,D and E, you haveall the care, you're going to
have your baby and you're notgoing to die. And you know
tracing the babies up until thebaby is five years old. It also
(24:50):
adds value to the nurses onbikes program. And also during
this time, they are in thecommunity having chats with the
community learning more abouttheir cultural beliefs in seeing
how best they can deal withharmful cultural beliefs.
Because not all beliefs are bador harmful. There are some that
are good cultural beliefs.
Christey (25:11):
Yeah. Absolutely. Wow, how interesting. And how deeply
transformative.
Mercy (25:19):
Thank you.
Christey (25:20):
Thank you so much Mercy for explaining the
intricacies of your work. Andfor going deeper into the
complexities of the problem thatyou are solving. And, you know,
it's it's very cool. The nurseson bike and providing health
care, people understand it. Butwhen you go into the deep
layers, you know, and the longerterm work that you're doing
(25:43):
short term, woman by woman,you're saving lives, but also
long term, you'll be savingentire communities as these
belief systems gradually change.
And getting care from the firsttrimester becomes the way to do
it. And I just loved how youexplained. If you do A,B,C,D,
and E, you will have a bouncingbaby and you will not die. It's
(26:03):
fantastic. Who wouldn't sign upfor that?! Once they understand.
Johanna (26:15):
And Mercy. It's incredible that you're having
these fabulous results, and thatthe women and community members
are beginning to see that thoseresults are speaking for
themselves and changingbehaviors. But how do the nurses
even approach actuallysuggesting that women change
(26:38):
their approach to something aspersonal as healthcare when it's
at such odds with their culturalbeliefs?
Mercy (26:46):
Malawians, we like dancing a lot. And even when I'm
working at home, I'm doinghousehold chores. I'm always
listening to traditional music,then I'm dancing. And most of
our health education is throughmusic and dancing. The nurses on
bikes, they'll be providingfamily planning education,
through music and dancing. So wedo it like this. **Mercy sings
(27:20):
and dances**
Johanna (27:32):
Christey, I wish we decided to do a video podcast,
it was so wonderful to see yourdancing Mercy. I feel sad that
our listeners weren't able tosee that, too. That was
beautiful. Thank you.
Christey (27:44):
That's so cool.
What's the meaning.
Mercy (27:47):
So they're saying, If you don't practice family planning,
you'll be so busy, you'll be sobusy, you don't have time to
take care of yourself. Becauseyou're always taking care of
children, you are pregnant. Andat the same time, you have
another baby that is only maybea year who in some months at
your back. And then you have ababy. So all these babies cannot
(28:09):
walk. They are all over you. Theother one at your back, the
other one here. And you alsohave a load on your head, and
you're pregnant. So all of thisaround you, please, woman take
care of yourself.
Christey (28:26):
Wow. So the nurses on bikes know these songs and they
go out and they perform thesongs and they teach through the
dance.
Johanna (28:34):
it's beautiful to see that you have so much joy in
terms of your work as well. It'sbeautiful to watch that fun and
watch that joy throughout yourwork.
Mercy (28:43):
My pleasure. And thank you so much for having me. And
we don't take this for granted.
And thank you for being ourvoice.
Johanna (28:51):
We want to bring your beautiful voice to the world
because your story really needsto be here. It's wonderful.
Mercy (28:58):
Awesome.
Christey (28:59):
I love that point. You just said about the joy Jo,
because actually Mercy, Jo and Ioften say that Just Peoples has
to be fun. You know, if we getstressed, we always try and
recenter on enjoying thewonderful work that we get to be
a part of. And so thisconversation was so joyful. It's
why Jo and I do our work becausewe get to speak to people like
(29:24):
you that just do incredible workin this passionate and joyful
way.
Johanna (29:30):
In my head. I'm booking a trip to Malawi.
Christey (29:32):
Yeah for sure. We're coming, we're clapping, we're
dancing. we're riding thosebikes. I'm going to take the
herbs.
Mercy (29:45):
We need people like you to walk alongside us. We know
the we are close to thecommunity. Our proximity makes
us good to do what we are doing,but we also need you to walk
alongside us. Thank you so muchfor this time. It was like my
time to charge my time to ventwhat is inside me. This also
like kind of a therapy - I'vetalked, I've danced, I've sang.
(30:09):
Thank you so much.
Johanna (30:11):
For anyone listening who is interested in learning
more, or supporting Mercy'svision to roll out her nurses on
bikes offering across ruralMalawi, you can visit
justpeoples.org/leaders/mercy.
You can find these details inthe show notes. To give you some
context of how much your supportcan help Mercy achieve, with a
(30:33):
little over 2000 US dollars,Mercy can purchase a new
motorbike and driver training toget another nurse on bike on the
road and backing Mercy with15,000 US dollars will enable
her team to provide one year'sworth of comprehensive health
care to 100 rural Malawian mumsand their babies.
Christey (31:00):
And a final question, you mentioned that your
grandmother is still alive. Isshe proud of you?
Mercy (31:08):
She is she's now 97 years old. And sometimes when I'm
happy I call her. Or when shefeels like she calls me. How
many lives have you saved? Istill talk to her and she says
she's always thankful that shehas lived to see this today.
Johanna (31:29):
Why Give a Buck? is proudly brought to you by Just
Peoples, an internationalnonprofit that connects givers
directly with local leaders atthe forefront of tackling
poverty in the local communitiesacross Africa and Asia. You can
learn more and directly supportthe work of mercy and other
inspiring leaders by visitingjustpeoples.org
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