Village Health Works Clinic

Yesterday we went to the Village Health Works in Bururi (about a 2 hour drive from Bujumbura). The VHW was founded in 2006 by a man named Deogratias, who is a native Burundian doctor, and the main character of the book Strength in what Remains by Tracy Kidder. The clinic has expanded to include in and outpatient facilities, malnutrition facility, pharmacy, technology center, and a demonstration garden. The garden is so important because the workers can show local Burundians what types of vegetables can grow in their climate. Currently, 65% of the children of Burundi are suffering from malnutrition as a result of consuming a nutrient poor diet. People consume cassava which is a tuber like veggie that provides no nutrients, but grows in abundance and is easy to prepare. VHW provides morenga, a nasty tasting herb that is dried and sprinkled over food, which provides all of the nutrients that the Burundian people are lacking. The morenga is given to treat malnutrition, and the seeds are given to the families to plant so that further occasions of malnutrition are avoided.

The clinic is very high up in the mountains with beautiful scenery. Even better than that, is the fact that the high altitude makes it so there are no mosquitos. The clinic provides food and housing for all volunteers and workers, which will come in handy for next years trip. The clinic has 1 Burundian doctor, 1 American doctor, 5 nurses (who are diagnosing and writing prescriptions, but are at the functional level of a Patient Care Assistant), and 2 translators. Also, the clinic is run entirely on US donations, and does not charge patients for consultations. However, if a patient is able to pay they are asked to (not always in money, but sometimes in livestock, supplies, or hours—once they are better). In the evenings, VHW provides English lessons for all of the doctors, nurses, and community members. This clinic would be great to go to next year. It is run entirely on solar power and produces most of the food that the patients eat (except for the rice). We were excited to hear the that they are starting construction on a new building which will serve as a maternal clinic for the Burundian people (hopefully it will be done by the time we come back next year!).

We were surprised when the Burundian Drummers came up the mountain to give us a private performance. To see the drummers and all other pictures that we took check out our snapfish page:

Thanks!

Liz, Jayne and Amanda

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