It’s now 5 years MHCD Mission in Health Care and development has been involved in poverty reduction through community development and healthcare in Uvira District, SouthKivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo. The main objective of MHCD is to provide good, proper and affordable healthcare services to vulnerable people especially women and children.

One of our main activities is the reduction of Infant mortality, maternal and morbidity rates through birthing kits use and distribution, training of traditional midwives and health workers and treating women and children at our hospital and clinics.MHCD focuses on community health and development. We also provide free education to orphaned and other vulnerable children and provide food for the malnutrition children.

The main challenges we face day in day out is that the children that we are receiving for treatment at the MHCD Hospital in Luvungi and other clinics in Kiliba,Sange and Makobola villages come when they have advanced malnutrition. Insecurity situations in their villages prevented their mothers to go and cultivate the lands,a note worthy point is that Agriculture is the main backbone of DRCongo and 80% of the population rely on it. This in turn made many families to lack food thus the children suffering from malnutrition. Some come with advanced malnutrition associated with malaria and anemia since most of them stay home for long without receiving any proper treatment. Others come dehydrated due to diarrhea.MHCD’s observation noted that when these children come, if they stay for a week without getting nutritional food and medical care they lose their lives. The parents bring them when they see that some other children have already died at their homes with malnutrition. This means that many children die from malnutrition and malaria due to lack of proper nutrition and healthcare.

Children suffering from malnutrition receiving treatment at MHCD Luvungi Hospital

In bringing a durable solution to this problem,MHCD opened a nutritional and community development centre in Luvungi  and Kiliba where we are providing nutritional food and medical care to the malnutritioned children. We give them nutritional porridge from soya beans, sorghum and maize and when preparing they mix with vegetable cooking oil and sugar. We give them also lunch. If we have enough food, we give the mothers some rice and beans and at times greens that we have planted at the MHCD farm so they can eat at home. We give them deworming medicine and for the very sick we hospitalize them at the Luvungi MHCD Hospital for Intensive medical care.

The objective of the community development centre is to fight hunger and eradicate poverty in their families. We give their mothers hoes and some piece of land where they carry out agricultural activities. They plant maize, sweet potatoes and vegetables. After few months they harvest. They eat some and sell the surplus so the money can help them start a small business. We also give them some money for micro finances for them to start some small businesses. Since we started this programme,we have seen a lot of change and improvement in their families. We managed to eradicate malnutrion in so many children and families. The children who had suffered so much from malaria are now well and the mothers can enjoy, sing and dance from the projects we have given them because they can get food to feed the children and them and get some money from the same to help them in life. Most of them because of poverty they came looking very old but since the start of this programme their health has improved and they now look young.

A child suffering from malaria receiving treatment at MHCD Luvungi Hospital

Another problem we are facing if fighting malaria.70% of the patients we receive at the MHCD Hospital and clinics are children and a good number come with malaria associated with anemia due to lack of proper treatment. Many come from poor families and do not come with a cent for medication or treatment. This has brought problems for the MHCD doctors and nurses since when they ran out of medicines they do not have any money to purchase them. To solve this, MHCD started a community health insurance where families contribute 10 to 25 USD so they can receive treatment for the whole year. Through this programme,infant mortality rates have sharply declined and we have saved lives of so many children and women. The challenge is that many families live below a dollar a day so even getting this money is an uphill task.

Birthing kits distribution is also our major programme.We receive the kits from the birthing kits foundation Australia and we distribute them to traditional midwives, rural hospitals and clinics and to the expectant women. Since we started this programme, we have seen a great impact on the reduction of infant mortality rates and HIV/AIDS infection. We also make birthing kits locally and this programme has been of great help to raped women, single mothers and other vulnerable women. Since we started the programme, we have been able to distribute more than 100,000 birthing kits and trained more than 1000 traditional midwives and health workers.

We still have so many malnutritioned children who are receiving food and medical care at our nutritional centre. At our hospital there are many children suffering from malaria and do not even have a cent to purchase medicine. I kindly please request all well wishers reading this newsletter or watching this video to assist us with food and medical care so the children may continue with their treatment. With USD50,you can change lives of the whole family by them engaging in agricultural activities or small business. You can also support MHCD in the birthing kits distribution to the interior villages. Your support will bring joy,hope,development and reduce poverty in our communities especially in women and children.

For more information or support, kindly please contact:

Dr. Luc Mulimbalimba, MHCD Director.

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tel:+243 994 931 840, Website: www.mhcdafrica.org