Ntarama Walk-In Clinic, Maternity Unit and Hospital Ward – Offering much needed medical care where previously there was none

Our hospital and health clinic is reaching out to 17,000 people in rural Rwanda, helping prevent women from dying in childbirth and curing many opportunistic infections, which take a massive toll on Rwandan families.

Offering much needed medical care where previously there was none

Rwanda was a poor and under-developed country even before the 1994 genocide that left an estimated one million people dead.  The legacy of the genocide still has an enormous impact on the population as they rebuild their country.  Of those who survived, 97% witnessed the violence, and trauma has hampered productivity at work and school.

Network For Africa, working with the respected Rwandan non-governmental organisations, SURF (the genocide survivors’ fund) and IBUKA, has built and supports a walk-in health clinic, a 3 bed maternity unit, an 18 bed hospital ward which has a health education component, and a community centre serving a population of 17,000.  In Rwanda one in every 16 women has a lifetime chance of dying in childbirth, mostly from post partum hemorrhage that can easily be prevented by an injection of syntometrine.  As one local woman said:  “This maternity unit will change our lives.  Now my daughters won’t die in childbirth.” Malaria and other opportunistic infections take a massive toll on Rwandese families, killing infants and limiting the productivity of adults. It is also essential that women have access to sexual and reproductive health, and the knowledge to plan their families.

Ntarama is a 45 minute drive south of the capital, Kigali, in rural Rwanda. It is the site of one of the most notorious events during the genocide, when 5,000 people who had taken shelter in a church were murdered. Even before the genocide the area had been deprived of schools and medical facilities. The nearest health care was a day’s walk away.

The centre is still expanding with plans for a hall for meetings and events, available for rent for conferences and weddings. The centre will also have four classrooms with part-time teachers offering training in literacy, health, vocational subjects, computer skills, micro-finance, and sexual and reproductive health, including HIV-AIDS mitigation. There will also be classes in gender rights and the importance of participation in civic society.