Location
Remera Sector, Musanze District, Northern Province, Rwanda
Community Description
Located in Rwanda’s volcanic Northern Province, Murandi Health Center is perched atop a mountain overlooking beautiful Lake Ruhundo. To reach Murandi from the nearest main town, one must drive an hour along a twisting, narrow mountain road, thus making this health center the most remote in Musanze District.
Despite its relative isolation, Murandi is a model health center in terms of its management, efficiency, cleanliness and staff motivation, and is highly trusted and visited by the surrounding communities.
The region where Murandi Health Center is located receives abundant rainfall and is surrounded by numerous lakes and other bodies of water, but the community remains largely without access to clean running water and electricity. The health center’s location near to Lake Ruhondo and other stagnant bodies of water contributes to its high prevalence of neglected tropical diseases such as schistosomiasis, Trichura trichuris (whipworm), Ascaris lumbricoides (large intestinal roundworms) and hookworm. Although rarely fatal, these ailments are a significant cause of morbidity in Rwanda, both negatively affecting economic productivity and children’s school attendance.
Murandi Health Center serves a community of over 16,000 people, most of whom are small-scale and subsistence farmers. The health center offers a wide variety of services, including maternal health and delivery, general consultation for children and adults, family planning, vaccination, voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for HIV, distribution of ARV drugs, a nutrition program for mild and severe child malnutrition cases and a community health worker program that enables the health center to sensitize the community and monitor health trends.
Although its catchment population is relatively small compared to other health centers in the district, Murandi’s quality services draw patients from neighboring areas. It operates some of Musanze District’s busiest and most trusted hospitalization rooms for men, women and children, receiving 150-200 patients a day and delivering an average of 60 babies each month.
Murandi Health Center’s remote location and lack of sufficient financial resources has made it difficult to bring running water to all its rooms. Although it is fortunate to have consistent electricity in all rooms, and running water in its maternity section, then there is no running water in the other sections of the facility.
Murandi Health Center currently pipes its water from a well source in a neighboring valley and stores it in a large water tank directly behind its hospitalization rooms.
At present, hospitalized patients wishing to wash themselves, their food and their personal items are unable to do so without using stagnant bucket water or going outside to use water from the storage tank—an impossible task for extremely ill patients. The lack of running water in Murandi’s hospitalization rooms also results in constant inconveniences for the health professionals attempting to provide hygienic care for their patients.
Project Description
This project will connect the health center’s hospitalization rooms for men, women and children to the health center’s existing water source.
Project funds will be used to purchase pipe and all fixtures and materials necessary to bring running water to and build sinks in the three hospitalization rooms.
The health center director (titulaire) has had complete plans prepared for this water project for several months, but has lacked the financial means to initiate it. The new facilities are greatly anticipated by the entire staff.
Project Impact
More than 16,000 people will be served by this project.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Jessica McGhie
Comments
This is the third project by PCV Jessica McGhie.
Her other great projects are as follows:
Bisate Health Center Water Project – Rwanda
Busogo Health Center Water Project – Rwanda
The simple task of extending running water into Murandi Health Center’s hospitalization rooms will drastically improve the work environment for Murandi’s staff and the quality of care available for its patients.
This is the last of Musanze District’s health centers to install running water in its key rooms. It will add to and demonstrate Rwanda’s ongoing development and dedication to ensuring that all rural health centers are hygienic, safe spaces for patients to receive medical care.
Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00
Donations Collected to Date
$500.00
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has now been fully funded through the generosity of James Williams and Felicia Draper, of San Francisco, CA, with the help of Drop in the Bucket.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Jessica McGhie of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Jessica and/or those of her counterpart PCVs in Rwanda.
This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.