Abbaram Sani, shares her experience as a SCHEW at the Yerwa Maternal and Child Health Center in Maiduguri LGA.
Abbaram Sani is a 44-year-old married woman who serves as a dedicated Senior Community Health Extension Worker (SCHEW) in Maiduguri, a city in Borno State, Nigeria. Sani works as a family planning (FP) service provider at the Yerwa Primary Healthcare Centre, a health facility supported by The Challenge Initiative (TCI).
For years, Sani faced challenges that stemmed from inaccurate documentation of family planning data, particularly in postpartum family planning (PPFP), client types, and referral sources. She noted:
No one has ever taken the time to coach me on the correct way to fill out the FP daily register, which is why you would find certain fields left empty. We simply didn’t know how to complete them.”
Since TCI initiated its support to Borno State in January 2023, both Sani and her facility have undergone transformative change. With TCI’s support, the facility has adopted proper documentation practice, while Sani has gained invaluable skills in data documentation through On-the-Job Training (OJT), which is part of one of TCI’s high-impact interventions on Quality Improvement.
Now, I can confidently and accurately document client information in the FP register, particularly the sections related to client types and referral sources.”
Beyond acquiring knowledge and skills, Sani actively transfers this knowledge to other service providers at her facility. She shared:
I have successfully passed on this knowledge to other service providers under my supervision. You can observe consistency and completeness in the FP registers. Whether I am present or not; I am confident they will do it correctly.”
Sani’s dedication extends beyond her health facility. Recently promoted to the FP Local Government Area (LGA) Supervisor, she’s eager to empower other service providers in facilities throughout Maiduguri, including those not supported by TCI.
The coaching I received has significantly enhanced my capacity in data documentation. As the new FP LGA coordinator, I am committed to building the capacity of other service providers and I want to share this knowledge across all facilities in Maiduguri.”
Her passion shines through as she offers to accompany her trainees on their coaching visits to help bridge the gap.
Sani’s story was further confirmed by TCI’s Health Systems Strengthening data quality checklist, which is administered to assess the quality of FP data at facilities. Sani’s facility scored 100%, confirming her story of the impact of TCI.Her story exemplifies the transformative power of TCI’s coaching and mentoring in improving the skills of service providers, not only at her facility but also in other TCI-supported facilities. Her journey highlights the importance of building capacity at facilities and across communities.
Inspired by her experience, Sani expressed her wish for more coaching sessions for other facilities, saying,
This coaching has immensely benefited me. I hope TCI can expand its coaching efforts to other facilities not currently supported by TCI.”
