Conclusion of Rutenderi Health Center Water Project – Rwanda

This project has been completed under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Kitty Hall. To read about the beginning of the project, CLICK HERE.

The project was to provide water to the Rutenderi Health Center and provide sinks for all of the services.

Kitty reports:

We installed running water in Rutenderi health center, which had no source of water before. Construction was completed in a month.

The funds from Water Charity covered the cost of buying and installing 3 sinks and connecting these sinks to the water source, which is over 30 meters away. The sinks were installed in the maternity delivery room, the pharmacy and the laboratory.

The benefits of the new sinks are numerous as they will help to improve hygiene practices at the health center by allowing the staff to wash their hands and equipment before delivering babies, after dealing with hazardous waste in the Lab, and before distributing medicine to patients.

The sinks will also help to reduce cases of nosocomial disease contracted by patients in the health center and hopefully encourage more women to come to the health center to give birth, as opposed to giving birth at home.

“Some women did not want to come here to give birth because they know we don’t have water or electricity. They think that they would be the same if they delivered at home. Now that people know we have running water we hope that they will come to the health center to give birth in sanitary conditions” said the health center manager Juliette Kamunazi. She hopes this will reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with home deliveries.

The health center staff wanted me to personally thank the staff at Appropriate Projects and the donors who made this project possible.

We again wish to thank The Soneva SLOW LIFE Trust for providing the funding for this project.