A hospital fit for a President

My weekend started in Kigali, with the discovery the local drink of choice, Waraje (Rwandan gin), and an exploration of the city on the back of a moto.  Then early on Sunday morning, I set off with several colleagues on a road trip to the Northern Province.  We stopped along the way for a table football competition, a trip to “MacDonalds” (a small but very popular roadside bbq stall, which sells fried sweet potatoes and goat brochettes), a hike in Parc National des Volcans, and finally to enjoy an evening of wine and cheese by a log fire (given the altitude, it is surprisingly cold up in the north).

On Monday morning, we headed (rather indirectly) to Butaro for the opening of a new hospital by Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda.  

PIH has been working in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the local community to build the hospital for the past two years, following a request by the Rwandan Government for help to bring health care facilities to Burera, the last district in Rwanda which did not have access to a hospital.

Luckily, the President was two hours late, so our detour meant we missed nothing more than an hour or so of sitting and waiting for things to kick off.  When they finally did, there was the token ribbon cutting, followed by speeches by the President, the Minister of Health and Dr Paul Farmer (founder of PIH).  The president then lead a rally down in the community, and the day ended with traditional drumming and dancing back at the hospital.

Since PIH started working in the district in 2008, in a temporary make-shift hospital, the rate of infant mortality in under 5s has more than halved and malnutrition has been cut by over 60%.  The project has also created over 3000 jobs for the population of Burera.  So there was such a buzz of excitement at what can be achieved now the new facilities have opened.  

The hospital really is impressive.  It is situated on top of a mountain, close to Lake Burera.

And rather than looking in at a room full of sick patients, every bed looks out at the wonderful views: 

In terms of facilities, the hospital hopes to become a model of how to deliver health care in rural Africa.  It features an innovative design intended to harmonise with the local environment and reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections.  It has an emergency department, a full surgery ward with two operating rooms, a neonatal intensive care unit, the list goes on...  It will even be making use of the impressive hills to supply hydro-electricity.

 

I am certainly looking forward to spending some more time up in Burera in the coming months, but for the rest of the week at least, I’m back in Rwinkwavu, as the stock take started today!

Oh, and of course, no official opening celebration would be complete without a huge cake, with a photo of the new hospital on the top...