Last September, we reported on the great need for the rehabilitation of the Kagbaima Health Center in Sierra Leone, where thousands live on an income of less than $1 a day, and a $10 medical bill would equal two weeks’ pay.
The Kagbaima Health Center, the only medical facility nearby, was in such bad shape that “the poor condition of the health facility made people stay away from visiting the facility,” the Rural Youth Development Organization-Sierra Leone (RYDO-SL) program director told us.
Today, we are pleased and proud to announce that thanks to the supporters of Bread and Water for Africa® from across the U.S. we successfully raised the $6,000 needed to construct a brand-new health center to replace the existing deteriorating structure to serve the population of 4,851 residents including 1,490 girls, 1,024 boys, 1,342 women and 995 men living in 10 surrounding villages.
That amounts to about $1.25 per resident in the communities served by the Kagbaima Health Center who today now have access to medical care and life-saving treatment at no, or extremely low, cost that they can afford in their time of need.
In addition to replacing a thatch roof with a zinc roof (which has a life expectancy of decades, not years), the project included new floors, new plaster walls, a new ceiling, new steel doors and windows, a new coat of paint and even new furniture including a cupboard for medicines and benches for patients to sit on as they wait for their appointments.
Joseph reported in June that the health center is now able to provide healthcare for the community in the following areas: Antenatal Clinic, Under Five Clinic, Adolescent Clinic, General Clinic and Health Education.
And not only did the residents in villages surrounding the health center participate in its rehabilitation by providing building materials including sand, stone, timber and “brush sticks,” and fetching water, they were involved in the whole process from the beginning.
“The Kagbaima community and its surrounding villages had been part and parcel of every decision-making aspect of the projects, from the very start,” says Joseph.
Today, “the admission capacity is now improved through the rehabilitation of the health center for maternal cases, and for female and male patients in general,” he said. “The Kagbaima community’s overall health status has improved, and the incidences of disease in the community have been reduced.”
But perhaps, says Joseph, the most significant achievement of the project has been the goodwill and trust generated between the local residents and the healthcare providers made possible through their joint efforts to provide healthcare for all in the community they call home.
And this from Joseph to the supporters of Bread and Water for Africa® who program transformational change to the Kagbaima community for years to come:
“We appreciate the support given to RYDO-SL program by the Americans people, as health is wealth.
“Funding a health program is saving the lives of many children, women, youth and elderly here now.
“The project has made the community to have access to improved health services and improved the health status of the people at all levels in a sustainable manner.”
Next Steps: Construction of a hand pump water well, toilet facilities, a patients’ waiting hut and nurses’ quarters.
