By CLIFFORD KANONO
VillageReach Pharmacy Assistants Program Student– Class of 2015
My name is Clifford Kanono. I am enrolled in VillageReach’s Pharmacy Assistant Training Programme. Previously, I worked as a Health Surveillance Assistant in the rural communities of Nkhata Bay District in the Northern part of Malawi. The health facility I worked in had to serve about 14,500 people in a year—a large number given the resources of the facility. This, like most other health facilities in rural communities face many challenges, but one of the most problematic is the adverse effects of non-trained pharmacy personnel:
As the Social Capital Market Conference (SoCap) begins today in San Francisco, VillageReach is very excited to announce that Oasis Fund, a European investment fund, has committed a $1.375 million investment in VidaGas, the propane energy company owned by VillageReach and the Mozambique Foundation for Community Development (FDC). SoCap is full of social entrepreneurs, investors and innovators excited about using private money for social good- but thus, far there are few true real-world examples of large scale, social investing. This investment is a landmark transaction that demonstrates the potential for channeling private investment capital into commercially viable social businesses in developing countries. Furthermore, the investment affirms the effectiveness of VillageReach’s model for enacting sustainable, systemic change to global health by establishing for-profit businesses to fill gaps in infrastructure. The investment will enable VillageReach to expand its customer base and energy service offering to impact a greater number of households and businesses in remote areas of northern Mozambique.