An ambulance purchased by Brunswick Coastal Rotary Club recently arrived at its destination at the Kigutu Hospital and Women’s health Pavilion in Kigutu, Burundi, according to a prepared release.
Brunswick Coastal Rotary Club purchased an ambulance for the Kigutu Hospital and Women’s health Pavilion in Kigutu, Burundi. Courtesy of Brunswick Coastal Rotary Club
The $52,100 Rotary Foundation grant used to purchase the vehicle also provides training of local medical staff and community members, particularly about issues of maternal and infant health. This training is critical as Burundi has the highest maternal and infant mortality in the East Africa region. Based on the latest (2020) World Health Organization data, maternal mortality is 548 per 100,000 pregnancies and child mortality is 54 per 1,000 pregnancies. Two important ways to reduce these rates are providing information to expectant mothers and their community, and reliable transportation to a medical facility. The Rotary grant will address both of these issues.
Brunswick Coastal Rotary Club has a long history of working in Africa, including South Africa, Uganda and Burundi. Many Rotary members have lived in, worked in or visited Africa, establishing relationships with African Rotary Clubs. Over the years, they have completed many sustainable projects focusing on disease prevention, literacy and water sanitation. One of their prior Rotary projects provided clean water to the community where the Kigutu Hospital is located.
The humanitarian projects in Burundi began with a personal encounter many years ago. Dr. Susan Black, who volunteered at an AIDS facility in South Africa, was enjoying a weekend at a B&B when she heard someone speaking with an American accent. Following up, she met Dr. Cathryn Christensen who was also staying at the B&B and told Black that she was from a small town in Maine that she had probably never heard of: Brunswick. Black had a cottage in Harpswell and later became a permanent resident of Harpswell and a member of Brunswick Coastal Rotary Club. The two physicians, Christensen at the beginning of her career and Black a seasoned professional, became friends.
Christensen later married Dr. Deogratias Niyizonkiza, the founder of Village Health Works and the hospital in Kigutu, Burundi. Through these connections, Black volunteered in Burundi and spearheaded Brunswick Coastal Rotary Club’s projects to benefit Village Health Works. Black did much of the fundraising for the ambulance grant while terminally ill. Christensen and Dr. Deo (as he is called) were invited guests at the last Brunswick Coastal Rotary Club meeting that Black attended before her death.
This grant was additionally supported by the following Rotary Clubs: Bath Sunrise, Boothbay, Fryeburg, Kittery, Rochester, Oxford Hills, Saco Bay and Bujumbura, Burundi.
Brunswick Coastal Rotary club meets at 6 p.m. every Wednesday (except for the first week of the month) at Pat’s Pizza in Brunswick.
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