1. Resident Housing
With the start of the PAACS surgical program, a continued internship program for 12 doctors, and an upcoming family residency program in the next few years, we are rapidly running out of housing. When all of our residency programs are up and running, we'll need space for over 20 more doctors and their families. A team from EMI came and drew up some plans for a housing unit of 5 studio apartments and 2 family housing units just inside the main gate to our housing area. We'll need just over $100,000 to finish the units. Click here to donate (resident housing in the memo line).
2. District Health Office
While this building is technically outside the hospital, the district health office, or BDS (en francais), is an important part of our life and work. Kibuye is a health district made up of 17 different health centers, all of whom are staffed by a number of nurses (and the occasional doctor) who provide care for thousands of Burundians at a lower cost/lower acuity than the hospital. Lots of essential work like prenatal care, malaria treatment, vaccines, etc are done at these health centers. The district health office houses staff to oversee this variety of care and work being provided, and they need more space just outside the hospital walls, which will enable them to expand their care and also give the hospital more in-wall space to grow. We need about $150,000 for this project. Click here to donate (BDS or health office in the memo line)
3. Nutrition Program
SO many of you have given to this fund in the past. On any given week at Kibuye, between 300-500 mothers with malnourished children come every Monday and Thursday to receive a meal, some health maintenance, and a kg of busoma (a nutritional porridge) and a hard boiled egg to take home. The rains have come late this year to Burundi, causing increased food shortages and increased rates of malnutrition, so we've seen numbers rapidly increasing even over the last month. This fund also pays for meals for inpatients at the hospital, porridge and beans and rice, so that patients have the nutrition and strength to be able to heal. Altogether this fund needs over $150,000 per year to continue on, but the amazing thing is that it costs less than $1/day to feed one patient and their caregiver. Click here to donate.
And finally, if you're interested in contributing to some of our new teammates, the link to that blog is here. Merry Christmas to all of you, and thanks for the many ways in which you continue to partner with us.
