Democratic Republic of Congo
The second largest country of Africa, full of paradoxes. On one hand, it is rich in natural resources (including cobalt, copper, coltan, crude oil, diamonds, gold); on the other hand, its inhabitants are among the poorest in the world. For decades, the DRC has been suffering from prolonged conflicts that have led to one of the most severe humanitarian crises in the world.
Overview:
- 77% of the population live in extreme poverty for less than $1.90 a day
- 16% of the country’s population, i.e. over 13 million people, require immediate humanitarian assistance
- 13,6 million people are deprived of access to safe water sources and proper sanitary and hygienic facilities
- numerous outbreaks of deadly diseases, including measles, malaria, cholera and Ebola
- about 10% of all malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa occurred here
Our hospital carries over
27 000
medical procedures per year
We treat about
7000
malaria patients every year
Our midwives delivered about
953
babies in 2023
12.11.2018
A letter from Szymon Hołownia
On September 3rd, my birthday, I announced on my Facebook page a fundraiser for equipment for rescuing premature babies in our hospital in Ntamugenga. There have been many instances where we lost premature babies simply because we lacked the necessary equipment to save them and were not able to transport them in time to the remote and only seemingly specialised medical centers.
Many of you contributed to this cause. A few weeks ago I showed you how the equipment is being transferred across the Rwandan-Congolese border (we cannot enter Congo anymore since there is an ongoing war in the areas where our team works. Today sister Agnieszka, who manages the hospital in Ntamugenga, sent me pictures of one of the first children saved by this device. I was going to wait until the morning to share this with you (it’s late, most of you are probably asleep…) but I couldn’t wait with such great news!
This is little Blaise. The CPAP machine – purchased thanks to your support – attached to his nose will help his respiratory tract develop properly, while the baby warmer is able to provide optimal temperature for a premature baby like him. Blaise will live, all thanks to you!
Your support will help save tens, if not hundreds of premature babies thanks to our purchase of two CPAP + baby warmer sets. Our doctors are thrilled – they finally have the necessary equipment to help patients!
From the bottom of my heart – thank you! Celebrating my birthday and becoming one year older was absolutely worth it! Let’s give Blaise a very warm welcome to this world
