Community Health Workers: Unompilo in the Valley of a Thousand Hills

In order to tackle some of the most basic shortcomings and inequities in care among rural populations, it has been suggested that the people themselves could help to provide for their own health care and thus decrease their dependency on outside health care systems wi th their high costs. While this idea met wi th an initial howl of protest f rom most professional groups, it has nevertheless become evident that community groups are keen to play an increasing role in the promotion of their own health. Members of communities who have become involved in these health activities are known by many different names including titles such as Village Health Agents, Village Health Workers, Community Health Aides, etc. The generic name for all these types of health workers is Community Health Worker. In the Valley of a Thousand Hills the Community Health Workers have elected to call themselves ONOMPILO, a name derived f rom the Zulu word PHI LA to "be in good health."