The frontline of life-saving care in Malawi’s hardest-to-reach communities
At Wandikweza, Community Health Workers (CHWs) are the foundation of our Proactive Doorstep Care (PDC) model.
They bring healthcare out of distant facilities and into homes, ensuring mothers, newborns, under children and adolescents receive care early, consistently and with dignity. CHWs are not volunteers on the margins of the system. They are trained, salaried, supervised, equipped, trusted and embedded frontline workers who make last-mile healthcare possible.
Why Community Health Workers
In rural and disaster-prone communities, the greatest risk is not illness alone, it is delay. When care depends on families reaching a facility, it often comes too late. CHWs reverse this equation by ensuring the health system reaches the family first.
Because of CHWs:
-
Pregnancies are identified earlier
-
High-risk mothers and newborns are followed closely
-
Families seek care sooner
-
Health facilities are decongested
-
Preventable maternal and child deaths are reduced
​
CHWs turn healthcare from reactive to proactive.
Who Our CHWs Are
Wandikweza supported CHWs are locally selected community members who live and work in the villages they serve.
They are known by name, trusted by families and accountable to both the community and the health system.
Each CHW is:
​
-
Selected with community leadership
-
Trained to national CBMCH standards
-
Supervised and supported by Wandikweza in partnership with District Health Offices.
-
Equipped with digital tools and referral pathways
​
This trust is what opens doors, literally.
What CHWs Do (At the Household Level)
CHWs provide regular, structured home visits from pregnancy through a child’s fifth birthday. During these visits, they:
​
-
Identify and register pregnant women, newborns and under-five children
-
Monitor pregnancies and newborn health
-
Conduct child growth and nutrition assessments
-
Support breastfeeding and complementary feeding
-
Provide health education on hygiene, sanitation, and family planning
-
Identify danger signs early and initiate referrals
-
Follow up after mobile clinics or facility visits
-
Support families during floods, storms, and emergencies
​
Every visit is documented, followed up and linked to the broader care system.
How CHWs Fit Into the Proactive Doorstep Care Model
CHWs are the entry point to an integrated network of care. They work in close coordination with:
​
-
Midwives on Wheels, who provide skilled maternal and newborn care
-
Mobile clinics, which deliver clinical services closer to villages
-
Public health facilities, where advanced and emergency care is provided
​
CHWs identify needs early, connect families to the right service and ensure follow-up, creating a seamless continuum of care from home to facility and back.
Training, Supervision & Quality Assurance
To deliver consistent, high-quality care, Wandikweza invests deeply in CHWs.
​
Our CHWs receive:
​
-
Initial and refresher training aligned with national guidelines
-
Ongoing mentorship and field supervision
-
Digital tools for visit tracking and risk alerts
-
Clear referral protocols and escalation pathways
-
Performance monitoring and feedback
​
This structure ensures CHWs are supported, not overstretched and families receive reliable care they can trust.
The Human Impact
Behind every statistic is a CHW knocking on a door.
A CHW who identified a pregnancy early.
A CHW who noticed danger signs in time.
A CHW who followed up, again and again, until a mother and child were safe.
​
CHWs are not an add-on to our model. They are the model in action.
