Final preparations are being made to support opening of the Health Center in Konkourona this week!
The head nurse, an auxiliary nurse and a midwife (picture below) have moved to the village and are making sure everything is ready. A young woman from the community, Sabine (picture below), is being trained to manage the pharmacy. The District Medical Officer has been helping to make sure the community has everything that is needed and is planning to visit this week for the opening.
Several women and children from Konkourona gathered on Saturday (picture below) to clean in and around the Health Center in preparation for the opening. There are ten women from the village who will be employed to clean every day. Having a paying job in a rural village in Burkina Faso is rare, and whoever has one has the potential to greatly improve the stability of her family. The women were chosen by the Mami Siara Na Association in the village that leads all development activities.
Thank you so much for helping make this Health Center a reality!!!
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Six months ago, donations of medical equipment and supplies from Project C.U.R.E.; clothing, shoes and bags from Care and Share Thrift Shoppes; soccer clothing and equipment from Leveling the Playing Field; books and backpacks from dear friends; and kindles from KAFO headquarters were shipped from Lorton, Virginia with a target destination of Konkourona, Burkina Faso. The shipment has finally cleared all administrative obstacles and is in Burkina Faso, en route to the village now.
There has been so much rain lately that the dirt road has been flooded, but it looks like there may be a break for long enough to get the truck in there. Please join me in my hopes for a clear passage!!!
KAFO partnered with Project C.U.R.E. and Blue Sea Shipping to send medical equipment and supplies to Konkourona, Burkina Faso in January. The shipment reached the port in Accra, Ghana in March and is awaiting customs clearance before being sent on to the capital city of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and then to Konkourona.
Leaders of the Mami Siara Na Association of Konkourona (MSN) will travel to Ouagadougou to escort the load on its final journey to the new health center. MSN is a community of over 400 people from the village that is providing leadership and labor for all of the development activities. Members will ensure sustainability of development projects through donations and careful management of fees paid for medicines and health care.
In parallel, MSN leaders have been working with District and National health officials to gain final approval to open the health center once the equipment arrives. That approval will be needed for government health workers to be assigned.
Thanks to YOU, such great progress has been made!
The Primary Health Center being built by the Konkourona Alliance Foundation (KAFO), Inc., in conjunction with the Mami Siara Na Association in Konkourona, Burkina Faso is almost finished. The following structures are now completed:
Solar panels have been installed to provide electricity to the buildings and the water is in the process of being connected to the Primary Care and Maternal and Child centers. Medical equipment has been donated through Project C.U.R.E in the United States and is expected to be shipped out in January 2022.
Access to healthcare in Konkourona, Burkina Faso is about to be changed forever, promising to save or improve the lives of each and every resident in the village.
Thank you so much for your help in making this happen!
School is starting in Konkourona, Burkina Faso and there is so much hope for what this year will bring. The sixth grade teacher and his wife are expecting a baby in October and are so eager for the new Health Center to be completed. It will not quite be ready, but it will be close! Improving maternal and child mortality rates, which are among the highest in the world, is one of the primary goals of construction of the Health Center.
Such great progress has been made over the past few months. The walls for the primary care facility, maternal and child facility, pharmacy, housing for healthcare workers, kitchens, and latrines have now been finished and roofs have been installed. Wiring has been run for electricity and plastering has started. Medical equipment is being ordered and plans are being made for management of the Center. There is such great partnership among so many people to make sure the quality of the construction is high, the project is within budget, and the Center will provide the best possible care available in the region.
Village leaders are beginning to plan a celebration for the grand opening later this year.
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