Healthcare is the currency of opportunity. The brutal reality in Africa is that many rural communities simply do not have easy access to hospitals or local healthcare facilities and there is no denying the detrimental impact this has on the wellbeing of these communities.
Africa Foundation has been working with communities and municipalities for three decades to increase access to a range of medical services. This includes building clinics and accommodation for healthcare workers; facilitating community-based care initiatives; and developing boreholes and dams for safe drinking water. Access to safe sanitation facilities also remains a major problem in poor rural communities and Africa Foundation provides ablutions or Enviro-loos – hygienic but waterless ablutions – to schools, clinics and other community facilities.
South Africa
This new healthcare facility has been a lifesaver for KwaNgwenya communities neighbouring &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve.
Vegetable gardens
New / renovated clinics.
Hippo rollers to move water.
People accessing clean water.
Access to healthcare is one of the primary concerns of every community in which we work. Rural African communities are heavily disadvantaged when it comes to affordable and accessible quality healthcare. We work with communities and the Department of Health to facilitate the construction or improvement of rural clinic facilities. We also assist in the allocation and retention of medical staff through construction of accommodation at clinic sites.
Households without a direct water supply rely on communal taps and women and children bear the burden of collecting it (often several times a day) in 25 litre buckets carried on the head. This causes spinal damage and compromises children’s access to education or the productivity of women. We reduce this burden through Hippo Rollers – 90 litre robust rolling barrels with handles used to push or pull them over even rough rural terrain.
319 million people in sub-Saharan Africa still do not have access to a hygienic water point. Approx. 3 million children and 14 million women walk more than 30 minutes daily to collect water. We work with communities to find the best solutions to improve access to water. Creating water dams, installing boreholes and rainwater collection systems, and establishing community water kiosks.
Community Home-Based Care Centres are a community response to the void in services for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in SA. In rural areas, facilities are scarce or under-resourced, and the HBC system provides care to many including orphaned or vulnerable children needing a safe place go after school and receive a meal or homework assistance. We build infrastructure to support such services.
Established in 1995, the living gift of Mduku Clinic continues on its life-changing course.
Just a year after opening, this clinic was earmarked by government for COVID-19 support.
For thousands of rural community residents, this brand-new facility has been a lifesaver.
11 000 villagers from surrounding communities agree that this new clinic was worth the wait.
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