Construction on a new health center for Gashora sector began in November 2008 and the facility is near completion. The health center will offer superior health services to the 22,000 residents of Gashora who previously had limited access to even basic health care services. The new facility is unrivaled. The 33 rooms include a laboratory, voluntary counseling and training center where anti-retroviral drugs are distributed for HIV-positive patients and maternity wing including a prenatal consultation room and two delivery rooms. In a country where 750 per 100,000 women die as a result of childbirth or pregnancy, a focus on women’s health is not only needed to save lives, but also vital to Rwanda’s path to prosperity.

Read more about Gashora Health Center on Josh Ruxin’s blog for the Huffington Post.
 

Rwanda Works is preparing to build a dairy collection center. Although there are more than a million cows in Rwanda, many don’t produce sufficient milk due to low quality feed and a lack of veterinary services. Rwanda Works is looking to improve the quality and quantity of milk and people's access to this important source of protien. Please check the From the Field section on our website for updates and progress reports on the collection center.

In July, ground broke at the sites of two new health centers. Ngeruka sector, population 27,000, and Juru sector, population 21,000, currently do not have health centers. The sites for the new centers are now bustling with activity. Since groundbreaking, the land has been graded and the footprints of the future structures are neatly laid out with stakes and colored twine. Piles of stones and 17,000 handmade concrete blocks per facility are already on site and ready to be set.

In addition to building the health centers, the construction projects are employing a significant number of local people. Everyday approximately 150 people are employed.