Ntarama Health Clinic, Rwanda

Network For Africa, working with the respected Rwandan non-governmental organisations, SURF (the genocide survivors’ fund) and IBUKA, has a clinic, maternity ward and community centre serving a population of 17,000 impoverished citizens.

Ntarama is a 45 minute drive south of the capital, Kigali, in a deprived area of 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 deliberately starved of schools and medical facilities.

The Maternity WardIn the words of a local woman, “This will change our lives. Now my daughters won’t die in childbirth.”

Now we have a clinic and maternity ward where previously there were no health facilities within a 5 mile walk. Malaria and 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.

The centre is still expanding, with plans to have 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.