Indigenous Knowledge to Reduce Infant Mortality  

Introduction: Maria Musoke is currently at Makerere University and has been collaborating with the Rural Extended Services and Care for Ultimate Emergency Relief (RESCUER) project in the Iganga district of Uganda.  The focus of the project is to reduce infant mortality through the use of ICT tools and resources. The video can be viewed in its entirety or via shorter clips sorted along the main themes (blue underlined) which emerged during the debriefing.  This debriefing was organized by the Knowledge and Learning Group as part of AFTQK's knowledge sharing and learning services. Siddhartha Prakash conducted the de-briefing on May 31^st, 2001. 

Reducing Infant Mortality in Uganda (full video - 57:25 min ), download MP3 audio, Additional Resources

1. Genesis of project ( 1:31.5 min, starts at 49 sec) [Maternal Health Care in Rural Uganda - IK Note]
2. Pre - Project

   a)       Initial goals - what did you hope to achieve at the beginning of the project and how would you rate your success? (1:37 min, starts at 2:21 min)

   b)       Iganga district - what are it's attributes and why was it chosen? (54 sec, starts at 34:29 min)

3. Main participants of the project

   a)       Who were they and how well did they work together? (2:26 min, starts at 8:36 min)

   b)       Project implementers - how did they set up the project and it's evaluation strategies (1:39 min, starts at 32:49 min)

4. Local Community

   a)       Decision making process ( 1:18.5 min, starts at 4:37 min)

   b)       Perception - of their problems and concerns (1:30 min, starts at 5:56 min)

   c)       Impact of project (3:57 min, starts at 16:54.5 min)

5. Public health workers vs. Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA)

   a)       Main concerns - between the two groups (1:33 min, starts at 12:05 min)

   b)       Bridging the gap (52 sec, starts at 31:56 min)

6. Obstacles

   a)       Lack of transportation - how was is addressed (1:08 min, starts at 7:26.5 min)

   b)       Charging of batteries (1:10 min, starts at 38:48 min)

   c)       Equipment shortages and reliability (1:10 min, starts at 13:39 min)

   d)       Funding issues (52 sec, starts at 24:33 min)

7. Innovation ( 37 sec, starts at 3:59 min)
8. Attitude of the men involved (46 sec, starts at 11:14 min)
9. Replication and dissemination possibilities

   a)       Iganaga district vs. other districts in Africa (1:26 min, starts at 15:28 min)

   b)       What would you do differently? (1:00 min, starts at 25:26 min)

   c)       Strategies for replication/ dissemination of the project (58 sec, starts at 26:27 min)

   d)       Ministry of health - needs funding for replication ( 38 sec, starts at 28:03 min)

   e)       Long term sustainability (1:21 min, starts at 28:42 min)

   f)         Steps for mainstreaming and replicating (1:00 min, starts at 30:55 min)

   g)       Road map for future projects (4:31 min, starts at 42:40 min)

   h)       Next steps for Maria and the project (2:37 min, starts at 54:34 min)

10. Success elements

    a)       Critical factors (1:21 min, starts at 20:52 min)

    b)       What has prevented the project from becoming a failure (50 sec, starts at 30:04 min)

11. Lessons Learned

    a)       For the Bank and other partners (2:18 min, starts at 22:14 min)

    b)       Steps for the Bank (36 sec, starts at 27:26 min)

12. Qualitative studies - kinds of questions asked and who was interviewed (3:24 min, starts at 35:23 min)
13. Alternate use of resources (1:49 min, starts at 40:32 min)
14. Average day in Iganga - activities participated in (4:27 min, starts at 47:18 min)
15. Personal experiences from the project (2:47 min, starts at 51:46 min)

Additional Resources

Telemedicine in Uganda (view article on Maria Musoke and RESUCER project)

Video of actual project site (watch short documentary 8:19 min)

Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program Website