Bone Roberts
Over 13 years ago, Bone N. Roberts learned about an organization working to improve healthcare access in Grand Gedeh County, Liberia–and he knew he wanted to be part of it. “I’m from Grand Gedeh County and I’ve witnessed how difficult it is for us to even obtain paracetamol for a typical headache due to the difficulty of getting here. Our medical facility is in Zwedru, and none in our remote communities,” Bone explains, referencing the largest town in the county. “Even licensed nurses would prefer to work in Grand Bassa or Rivercess than Grand Gedeh.”
It was 2008 when he first heard about an HIV program being piloted in Grand Gedeh by Tiyatien Health (now known as Last Mile Health), an organization co-founded one year earlier by Dr. Raj Panjabi. “I was motivated to join when I learned about Tiyatien Health and their dedication to improving the health of community members,” he says. “My motivation was to assist my community in getting access to healthcare. My family and I have been residents in Grand Gedeh all my life. Who will assist them if I can’t?”
Bone began working as a security volunteer. “The administrator informed me that the role had no monetary compensation, but I took it because I wanted to serve my people,” he recalls. “I was eventually upgraded to maintenance man to assist with the motorbikes and cars repaired at the Last Mile Health office. I am no longer a maintenance worker, but rather an operations assistant. Last Mile Health has helped me grow tremendously.”
Bone has contributed to many memorable projects–and seen their impact firsthand. “I will always remember the launch of the National Community Health Assistant Program,” he reflects, describing the beginnings of Liberia’s nationwide program to train and place over 4,000 paid, professionalized community health workers in the country’s most rural and remote communities. “People in distant communities now have access to health workers because of Dr. Raj’s vision. Today, our community members no longer die from minor illnesses, our pregnant women go to the hospital, and our kids are in good health. The community members rely heavily on the community health workers.”
Looking ahead, Bone plans to continue building his career at Last Mile Health. “My life is here, and I want to be here, the first base of Last Mile Health: Grand Gedeh,” he says. “I’m very pleased that my work helps to achieve universal health coverage and that the objective of Last Mile Health is forward-thinking.”
