30-year-old Scovia is soft-spoken and rather shy. With a medicine bag in one hand and an illustration aide in another, she walks with determination and a sense of urgency. Scovia is a CHW in eastern Uganda’s Sironko district serving 127 households. Many people fondly call her musawo (health worker) before adding her clan’s name, as a sign of respect.  Scovia lives atop of a steep hill—part of the district lies in Mount Elgon National Park. Due to the steepness of the terrain and the access challenges it poses, it is sometimes difficult to extend health services to some households. It gets worse in the rainy season, but this has not demoralized Scovia. No wonder the village chairperson speaks highly of her and what she does.

“There are rampant cases of malaria lately, so we are grateful to have CHWs like Scovia to treat our children,” Grandma Rose remarks. She adds: “Recently, when my grandchildren—the twins—were sick, I took them to her, and she tested and found that they had malaria. She treated them to recovery and did not charge me any money for the medicine. Her services are good, and she cares.”

Grandma Rose is not the only one who sings Scovia’s praises. Half a kilometer down the hill, a mother tells us that since the onset of the COVID pandemic, she has become more reliant on her because of proximity—unlike the distant public health facilities, which are often out-of-stock of essential medicines. This is partly what inspired Scovia into this work.