RCA 06 – EQUIPMENT FOR BAGANDOU HOSPITAL
Project Location
The village of Bagandou, about 130 km from Bangui in the south-west of the Central African Republic, is located in the middle of equatorial forest. The area is inhabited by the Aka Pygmy population (about 50%) and Bantu (50%). The Pygmies have always lived in the forest with a very simple lifestyle, living on fishing and subsistence hunting and what they collect in the forest. The average life span is 40 years, the literacy rate very low, their activities little exposed to trade, so they are easily exploited as cheap labor by the Bantu population.
In Bagandou there is a hospital, founded in 2004 thanks to funding from the Diocese of Tarnow in Poland, in particular thanks to the group of "missionary children" who, every year, go from house to house to raise funds to support the hospital. The geographical area of activity of the hospital of Bagandou covers a population of about 22,000 inhabitants in a radius that reaches up to 100 km away (within the forest).
The hospital has a capacity of 55 beds, and an average of 4,000 people are consulted annually, of whom about 2,000 are hospitalized. 60% of them are children, with many cases of severe anemia due to repeated illness, which require blood transfusions (about 25 transfusions per month). We also see many cases of malnutrition in children.
Project description
The hospital provides health care to the Pygmy Aka people in this area, who do not have the necessary means to pay for treatment in state hospitals and dispensaries. The help that the hospital gives to these people, who are treated free of charge, is very significant. The Bantu people also benefit from the hospital's care, but because of the high expenses, we ask them to contribute to the costs of treatment and medicine. This does not mean that the "social cases", even within the Bantu people, are not taken care of by the hospital, mainly because we allow everyone to access the necessary care.
Unfortunately, some of the material and equipment that is used in the hospital is now dated and no longer works well; the furniture is also very old and worn. In addition, due to the lack of an adequate number of solar panels, the batteries do not charge sufficiently and we often find ourselves without electricity, especially during the rainy season. Electricity is indispensable for the hospital, to have light and operate the various equipment in the operating room, laboratory, etc.
With this project, we also want to buy the material needed to allow the hospital to work in more comfortable conditions, improve the quality of performance and help create a more welcoming and worthy environment for patients who come to be treated.
Objectives
- Improve the quality of medical services with the new equipment and create a more welcoming and worthy environment for patients who come to be cured
- Achieve better electrical independence, thanks to the new solar panels
Beneficiaries
Direct: about 4,500 people per year, of which about 2000 are hospitalized. 60% of them are children.
Indirect: the families
Referent sister of the project: Sr. Donata Ferrari
Project's costs