ViNA’s programs target three focus areas: health care, education, and agriculture/animal husbandry.

Health Education

ViNA produces positive change through facilitating health promotion and disease prevention measures at the community level. In addition to the Rotary well project, a van has been donated to transport the sick and injured to health facilities.

ViNA is dedicated to its mission to improve rural health. In August 2009, ViNA trained volunteers from 14 villages to be community leaders in health promotion and education. The primary goal of this program is to create awareness about preventable health issues within the target population. The focus areas of the program are as follows:

• Basic hygiene
• Malaria prevention
• Oral health and nutrition
• Sanitation
• Nutrition
• Clean, accessible water

39 Community Health Club facilitators from the 3 villages of Terrat Ward, Arusha District were trained in 2011 and 2012. In 2012, ViNA also rolled out its pilot sexual health module to great success. Concurrent to these courses, ViNA instituted a success-measurement mechanism whereby ViNA representatives performed a home assessment survey for 100 convenience-selected homes in Terrat Ward. ViNA conducted this survey before any classes were taught to draw a baseline measurement of how closely families in Terrat Ward follow standard hygiene practices. Then, after 2012 courses concluded, ViNA representatives performed a follow-up, identical assessment on the same 100 families surveyed in 2011. Analysis of variance showed significant improvement in 5 out of 6 key health indicators of success. ViNA plans to return to Tanzania in early summer 2013 to train an additional group of health educators in Terrat Ward. ViNA will widen its scope and attempt to reach a more significant portion of Terrat Ward’s population, while also testing out the pilot First Aid module.

Water Project

ViNA’s water project in Tanzania supplements the health training the villagers receive. ViNA funded the construction of 7 rain catchment systems, including 5,000L water tanks and purification filters for each system. During the late summer/fall 2013 Andrew Bui, an engineer will oversee implementation of his plan. With the cooperation of the local government officials and villagers, Andrew pinpointed problems and identified solutions for increased access to clean water. The three to five year master plan includes use of a different, more abundant water source, improved distribution, and water treatment. A late summer trip is planned to implement the first phase of this project.