This week’s Fist Bump Friday goes out to VL Zambia District Coordinator Mambwe Kabaso for her 17-year dedication to fighting malaria. Ms. Kabaso’s passion for malaria prevention was ignited when she lost her cousin to malaria.
In 2018, when Ms. Kabaso joined the PMI VectorLink Project, she was deployed to Mansa District of Luapula province as a district coordinator. Mansa District had the reputation of having annual extensions of their IRS campaign due to poor program implementation. However, with the arrival of Kabaso, things turned around and for the first time, the 2018 campaign in Mansa was completed without an extension to the calendar and with the district recording 92% coverage. In 2019, she was redeployed to Chipata District of Eastern Province, which is the largest and most challenging district in the Eastern Province with an estimated 120,117 target structures, 10 operations sites, and 286 spray operators.
Again, Kabaso was able to complete the spray campaign within the stipulated campaign days and recorded 93% spray coverage. Having completed the Chipata District campaign, she was quickly deployed to the Copperbelt Province to assist the Lufwanyama District to complete their spray campaign. With Kabaso on the ground, the Lufwanyama spray campaign took a turn for the better and was successfully accomplished with a spray coverage of 87%.
VL Zambia COP Dr. Nduka Iwuchukwu said, “Kabaso is a tried and tested performer. Her organizational skills, consistent dedication to duty, and hands-on approach to providing solutions in diverse field situations are better experienced than pontificated. She is a great asset to the project.”
Ms. Kabaso believes that through the continued support of PMI in Zambia, her dream of compensating for the loss of her late cousin who died from malaria will come true. For her, this can only happen when malaria is eliminated in Zambia.
Kudos, Mambwe Kabaso!! We are lucky to have you on the PMI VectorLink team!!