Impact Stories from Public Health Policy Area
![](https://www.techwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/0122-Norah-150x150.png)
Fellow and CEO featured in video showcasing impact of NGO’s medication delivery innovation
Fellow(s): Norah Magero
Country: Kenya
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Entrepreneurship, Professional Development, Public Health
Fellow and CEO featured in video showcasing impact of NGO’s medication delivery innovation, Vaccibox
Fellow Norah Magero (Kenya, 2022) was recently featured in a video, “Ingenious Solutions for Rural Health: The Story of Vaccibox in Kenya,” a production of Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, which highlights her work in providing innovate vaccine delivery solutions.
Norah is the co-founder and CEO of Drop Access, a non-profit focused on rural energy access. Through Drop Access, she has lead the team developing Vaccibox, a portable, solar-powered refrigerated box that safely stores and transports heat-sensitive medications and medical items for delivery to rural locations. It can be wheeled by hand or mounted on various vehicles, including motorcycles, boats and pack animals. It also features a proprietary printed circuit board that monitors the interior temperature, battery storage, location of the box and more. In remote regions where terrain, resources, or even cultural morays, impede access to conventional brick and mortar health facilities, healthcare workers are able to deliver care to rural patients with Vaccibox.
“Our dream is to scale this impact in the whole of Africa,” Norah shared in a recent post. “In the face of climate change, VacciBox is promising to help reach the most underserved populations, where access to healthcare is often a critical challenge.”
Read More »
Report Date...: 01/22/2024
![](https://www.techwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/0101-Team-Sierra-Leone-1-150x150.png)
Team Sierra Leone launches Wata Na Life impact project
Fellow(s): Faatu Kanneh, Makalay Sesay, Mary Lusenie, Monica Sellu, Titoh Sallay Sheriff
Country: Sierra Leone
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Public Health
Team Sierra Leone launches Wata Na Life impact project
Fellows Faatu Kanneh, Makalay Sesay, Mary Lusenie, Monica Sellu and Titoh Sallay Sheriff (Sierra Leone, 2022) recently implemented the first phase of their seed grant-winning impact project, Wata Na Life, which was established to advance access to clean, safe and sustainable water and provide water treatment solutions to prevent illness.
Launched in Grafton, Sierra Leone, the inaugural event featured the team handing off their recently installed clean water tank to the local community stakeholders.
The project was made possible with the funding of a $3,000 USD seed grant from TechWomen along with support garnered from the Milla Group and Guma Valley Water Company. A highlight included a visit from impact coach Barham Zuhdi, who attended the groundbreaking event.
Read More »
Report Date...: 1/1/2024
![](https://www.techwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/1225-Nezha-1-150x150.png)
Fellow(s): Nezha Larhrissi
Country: Morocco
Cohort: 2013
Policy Area(s): Public Health
Fellow-led NGO, eSTEM Morocco, recognized by U.S. Ambassador to Morocco for Marrakech-Safi earthquake aid work
Fellow Nezha Larhrissi (Morocco, 2013), President of seed grant-funded NGO eSTEM Morocco, was invited for a special meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Morocco H.E Puneet Talwar to acknowledge and discuss the NGO’s intervention and aid efforts taken this fall following the 6.8 magnitude Marrakech-Safi earthquake in Morocco. ESTEM Morocco took part in a consortium of six other NGOs led by Association Maa Wa Namaa, which galvanized a caravan of relief workers to advance on the impacted region within 48 hours of the initial quake, offering field support to some 1300 families in 27 douars across Alhaouz, Taroudant, Chichaoua and Essaouira.
Nezha led a group of voluntary Moroccan IT engineers and oversaw the production of a portable mapping system, SeismeHUB, which provided timely insights pinpointing where urgent relief support was most needed across the more than 2000 douars severely impacted by the earthquake. In addition, eSTEM Morocco bridged and fostered connections between various working groups supporting communication, medical aid, field operations, reconstruction, digital data processing, fundraising, documentation and finance.
“On the ground we took also care of talking to women and girls, trying to provide presence and psychological relief,” Nezha detailed in recent communications.
The results of the response efforts can be found in an Arabic-language report prepared by Maa Wa Namaa.
Read More »Report Date...: 12/25/2023
![](https://www.techwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1120-Aliaa-2-150x150.png)
Fellow gives talk on upcoming public health initiative
Fellow(s): Aliaa Ahmed (Egypt, 2022)
Country: Egypt
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Professional Development, Public Health
Fellow Aliaa Ahmed (Egypt, 2022) recently delivered an address unveiling an upcoming public health campaign at 4th International Annual Conference of the Egyptian Academy of Bone Health and Metabolic Bone Disease in Cairo. Representing the Egyptian Food Bank (EFB), where she serves as the Growth Lab’s Head of the Nutrition and Research Unit, Aliaa outlined their upcoming Vitamin-D centered wellness initiative to promote national health outcomes, particularly in the elderly population, by raising awareness, distributing supplements, and providing educational resources on the vital role of Vitamin D in health. In her role at EFB, Aliaa shapes public programming and data-driven reporting. She is also the founder of Dep-Nomken, an initiative addressing the nutritional needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities, and a public health and nutrition lecturer at both the American University in Cairo and Tanta University.
Read More »Report Date...: 11/20/2023