Maternal & Child Health

Empowering Timorese to improve the health of women and girls

We are working to champion empowerment and improved health of Timorese women and girls especially in rural areas

Our Program currently focuses on supporting rural communities on Ataúro Island.

Remote and mountainous, Ataúro is separated from the capital Dili by 25km of sometimes rough sea. Women and girls on Ataúro have limited access to healthcare and health education.

What are we doing?

Training community health workers (PSF's)

PSFs (Promotor Saúde Familiar) are the Community Health Workers of Timor-Leste. They deliver health promotion, refer sick community members to healthcare facilities, and support national health program implementation.

We upskill PSFs in maternal health, infectious diseases and chronic diseases.

PSFs help their communities access accurate, clear health education.

They address preventable causes of disease, through educating their community on healthy behaviours. They sometimes make the crucial link between their community and the national healthcare facilities.

In 2022 PSF's:

Conducted 651 community health promotion sessions

Hakbiit Familia Clubs

Through our Hakbiit Familia Program we follow a community development approach. Through upskilling the PSFs, we enable them to mobilise their community in order to share important health information for a healthy community.

The Hakbiit Familia Clubs cover topics about maternal health (health in pregnancy, benefits of breastfeeding etc.) as well as domestic violence, child protection and disability inclusion. 

 

in 2022:

Our clubs were attended by 8,533 community members

Upskilling and supporting community birth attendants

Lack of access to health facilities increases the risk of infections and maternal and child death. 

We train CBAs to recognise possible danger signs during pregnancy, during delivery and after delivery. CBAs help women to make a safe plan for their delivery, and to refer them to pre-natal and post-natal check-ups.

Our gratitude to Australian Catholic University for their support in this training activity.

In 2022:

We upskilled 67 community birth attendents

Latest News about Women's Health and Social Care

ASTEROID project

Sitting down with Dr Jeremy

Last month, Maluk Timor was lucky to have a visit from some of the Australian Board and some volunteers to our office in Dili.  Dr

Who we work with on this program?

Timor-Leste Ministry of Health
New Zealand Embassy
Australian Catholic University

The Womens Health and Social Care team

IMG_5125

Dulcia Cardoso

Health Professions Educator
Juliana

Juliana Araújo Costa Pereira

Head of HR and Admin Department
Celita Freitas

Celita Maria Paula Trindade da Costa Freitas

Health Professions Educator
Rosiana Manu-Dibu Madeira

Rosiana Manu-Dibu Madeira

M&E Officer
Sanduni Perera

Jayasooriya Arachchige Sanduni Tharuka Perera (Soni)

Head of Finance and Operations
Destiana

Destiana Nunes Sequeira

TB Senior Healthcare Worker
Nelson Casimiro

Nelson Jorge Exposto Casimeiro

Driver
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Elda Soares Claver

Chief Financial Officer
Olegario Pedro da Silva Alves

Olegário Pedro da Silva Alves

IT Officer
IMG_5871

Zelia Lopes Bria Panzo

WHSC Program Support Officer
Missella Juliana

Missella Juliana Soares

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Junior Analyst

Your donation helps empower women

A little goes a long way to improving women's health in Timor-Leste
Transport to Atauro

$250 /m

Covers the full transport costs to get all our staff into the remote Arturo island.

Social care worker

$600 /m

Covers the cost of an additional social care worker.