Nyarusange, Kaburiro & Cyungo Health Posts
Over the past few years, the Trust has funded the building of three Health Posts, which are then maintained and staffed by the government.
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A Health Post is the equivalent of our GP surgeries, with a Health Centre being similar to a cottage/community hospital, and a hospital in Rwanda being larger and located in main cities and larger towns throughout the country. Facilities generally in all three of these areas do not compare with what we are used to in the UK, apart from perhaps one or two hospitals located in Kigali.
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Our Health Posts are located in three different areas, two in the Western Province, which is one of the poorest areas of the country, and the third in the Northern Province in the District of Rulindo, again an area in need.
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Our first Health Post was completed a ​​
number of years ago now in 2013, in a
remote area in the west called Nyarusange.
Our 2010 group who visited helped the
locals in digging out the hillside for the site
of the building, and that same group then
decided to fund the initial cost of laying the
foundations stones. Our involvement grew
from there, and we eventually funded 75%
of Nyarusange Health Post, which was
officially opened on a later visit, with
attendance from a government official, the
head of the army and many local people
who now benefit from it. Before this, the journey to the nearest place for medical assistance was about 8 miles away, and in the majority of cases, meant walking there.​​​
​ After the success of this Health Post, and seeing
​ how many people benefitted from using it, we
opened our second one a few years later at
Kaburiro, again in a very remote part of the
west, but in an area designed from road
improvement. As in this country, if we site a
health post it is essential that this is accessible
firstly to a health centre, and secondly not too
far from a larger hospital should further
treatment prove necessary following that initial
visit and being seen by a health professional.
Our third, and most recent Health post at
Cyungo in the Northern Province was only
completed fairly recently, but like the others, is
now seeing many patients each week for routine
blood tests, diabetes checks, baby clinics and
vaccinations. The first two were used as
vaccination centres for Covid 19 when the
pandemic hit.
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However in Rwanda, healthcare is not free, it
costs £2 per year per person, but many people
cannot afford this, so we have undertaken to try and raise a sum annually to enable those living within easy distance of the three Health Posts to access them. In 2024 our annual concert by Sir Richard Arkwright's Masson Mills Band raised £1,500, which enabled us to buy additional healthcare for 250 people in each of the three Health Post locations, and this is what we try to do each year when possible, for it is really important and needed.
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It takes us several years to be able to support the building of a new Health Post, as cost for materials and labour have risen in Rwanda in line with everywhere else. The Cyungo build cost in the region of £21,000 and the Trust sends donations on an 'as and when' basis so that we can support some of our smaller, but equally valuable projects at the same time. People are very patient, but as you can imagine there is great celebration when the Health Posts are finally completed and running!
