News From A Partnership In Caring

Hygene Kits provided through “Days for Girls”

From A Partnership in Caring Volunteer Lynn MacDonald in Rwanda:

What if not having sanitary supplies meant DAYS without school? Days of isolation? Girls use leaves, mattress stuffing, newspaper, corn husks, cardboard…but still miss up to 2 months of education and opportunity every year.

It turns out this issue is a surprising but instrumental key to social change for women all over the world. I IMG_2785partnered with ‘Days for Girls’ to bring hygiene kits to Rwanda this trip, and am distributing them as I go, finding partners like the BenibikIra Sisters to help distribute them.

A Partnership in Caring volunteer Lynn MacDonald distributing and explaining the Days for Girls kits

A Partnership in Caring volunteer Lynn MacDonald distributing and explaining the Days for Girls kits

A Partnership in Caring works with Benebikira Sisters to assist a family in Rwanda

We received this update from A Partnership in Caring volunteer Carolyn Rideout in Rwanda:

This is a boy we saw here last year at the SAVE Health Centre. He was 3 years old at the time, was not walking and was in other ways quite delayed as well. We left some financing for him to be seen at a rehab centre a ways from here. The mother and child spent some time there and he has made some gains in terms of his mobility. He still does not walk upright, but uses his hands mostly to walk. The father is no longer at home, the mother is pregnant and there is a 6 year old at home. The 6 year old has not started school as they had no money for uniforms and supplies.

The plan is this: the 4 year old needs to go back to rehab, and they will take him pending financing. He really needs to have a walker to encourage him to use his legs, which are quite under developed. The Sisters have asked the mother to bring the 6 year old here Monday morning and they will outfit him with uniform and supplies. Likely he will come here to eat as well. We will make a budget with Sr. Augusta for the coming year.

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Another twist to the story is that mother is 7 months pregnant. After the baby she will have access to birth control at the local clinic. She has no extended family here as she is from Congo. She seems to be a good mother and quite attentive to her little boy.

You might ask ‘why this family?’ People just cross your path in Rwanda and they become part of you. This boy will definitely have a better future if he is able to walk.

 

(A video of the boy can be found by clicking on this link: IMG_2783)

A Partnership in Caring volunteers visit school at SAVE

We received this update from A Partnership in Caring Society volunteer Carolyn Rideout in Rwanda:

We are now at SAVE, the Motherhouse of the Benebikira sisters. This morning Sr. Augusta introduced us to a man

Benebikira Sisters Motherhouse at Save.

Benebikira Sisters Motherhouse at SAVE

who showed up on their doorstep a few weeks ago. He was very weak with hunger and obviously quite ill. The sisters have taken him in and are looking after him. We have agreed to help him get Mutuel ( medical insurance) and we will send him to the district hospital for a proper medical workup. Some of the medical workup will be covered by his insurance, but certain tests and medications will not be.
We also visited the secondary school run by the sisters

A Partnership in Caring volunteer Lynn MacDonald with students at Immaculee Conception school at Save.

A Partnership in Caring volunteer Lynn MacDonald with students at Immaculee Conception school at SAVE.

and where APIC helps to support some students. Sister Lillian Gaudet’s music students have also been instrumental in this.

Immaculee Conception School at Save

Immaculee Conception School at SAVE.

There has been a very serious and unusual drought in Rwanda, and this has entailed much suffering for humans and animals alike. Since we’ve arrived the rains have come, coincidence I’m sure. The cost of food has increased significantly, particularly hard on those who rely on their gardens for sustenance.

 

A Partnership in Caring Society volunteers visit clinic in Mbunga

The Here’s the latest update from Volunteer Lynn MacDonald in Rwanda:

Today Carolyn and I travelled to Mbuga with Sr Thierrey to visit Sr Drocelle, and tour the health clinic. Mbuga is an hours drive southeast of Butare, and we travelled through beautiful countryside. The village of Gasarenda is just before reaching Mbuga. the men were replacing the road with hand cut paving stones. So we needed to walk from the village to Mbuga. We created quite a stir, I don’t believe they see many ‘umuzungus’ and we were a fascinating diversion to their day, attracting hoards of
children.

Children at the clinic

Children at the clinic

The clinic operates as an out patient clinic, pharmacy, ARV treatment, lab and maternity ward, with approximately 45 babies being delivered every month. We were told that malaria is on the increase in Rwanda and USAID have provided mosquito nets for distribution. There was quite a commotion as everyone was clamouring to obtain a bed net.

A Partnership in Caring Society volunteers Carolyn Rideout and Lynn MacDonald at the clinic.

A Partnership in Caring Society volunteers Carolyn Rideout and Lynn MacDonald at the clinic.

We were pleased to see that the teaching of ‘Helping Babies Breathe ‘ a program APIC previously sponsored, was being used in the maternity ward and delivery room.

A Partnership in Caring Society at Association Tubahumurize

A Partnership in Caring Society volunteer Lynn MacDonald visited Association Tubahumurize. It is a grassroots organization that empowers female victims of violence and marginalization through trauma counselling, skills coaching and training. Over the last ten years they have gathered experiences that prove that the women and girls that receive training at Tubahumurize are able to rebuild psychologically, socially and economically.
Today, 120 girls and young women have graduated from their sewing, embroidery and quilting school. They have taken charge of their lives and the lives of their families.

A Partnership in Caring Society volunteer Lynn MacDonald at Association Tubahumurize

A Partnership in Caring Society volunteer Lynn MacDonald at Association Tubahumurize

A Partnership in Caring Society (APICS) is proud to support the work of this grassroots organization by purchasing their products, bringing them back to Nova Scotia to sell with profit. This profit then returns to Rwanda to help support our projects. It is a win/win situation.

Volunteers arrive in Rwanda, work is well underway

Our volunteers have arrived in Rwanda.  Already they are hard at work.  Here is our first update from volunteer Lynn MacDonald:

Today Carolyn and I met with Sr Augusta and Sr Thierry regarding our sponsorship of 8 students at College Immaculee Conception at Save.
It costs 176,000 Rwandan francs per semester per student. There are 3 semesters to complete a year. So it’s the equivalent of $630 US for a student to attend secondary school here in Rwanda. Those funds include room, board, school fees, books, basically all that is needed to attend. Families are assessed by the school to determine the amount each family can afford, the remainder is supplemented by the Benebikira Sisters. No student is turned away from school by a lack of ability to pay. So our financial assistance is so very important. Currently 5 out of 8 of the students sponsored by APIC are girls, ranging in age from 13-22. When asked how it is possible for a 22 year old to be still in secondary school, it is sometimes necessary for children to start school late, or drop out for many reasons.
Our ongoing support is critical, every year the Benebikira Sisters hope for this support. A special thank you to Sr Lillian Gaudet and her music students at Bethany for their fundraising efforts. Much appreciated.

A Partnership in Caring Society prepares for Trip to Rwanda, launches New Web Site

A group of health care volunteers that travels annually to Rwanda is making plans for their 2017 trip to the East African country.  A Partnership in Caring Society (APICS) is pleased to announce Nurse Lynn MacDonald and Psychiatrist Dr.Carolyn Rideout will be leaving in mid-January.

They will be in Rwanda providing ongoing support to several projects in the Butare area of Southern Rwanda.  Among the projects APICS supports is the Association for the Development of Blind people and others handicapped in Rwanda (ADAR).  ADAR is an orphanage that  provides a stable home for thirty physically and mentally handicapped children in Butare, Rwanda.  Another project APICS supports is the Benebikira Sisters, a Roman Catholic diocesan community living and working in many countries in Africa, including Rwanda.  The Benebikira Sisters administer schools in Rwanda, including fourteen boarding schools at the Secondary level, six Primary schools, and two Vocational schools.  The sisters have built four of these schools on their own.

Lynn MacDonald (left) and Carolyn Rideout (right), A Partnership in Caring Volunteers who will travel to Rwanda in January, 2017

Lynn MacDonald (left) and Carolyn Rideout (right), A Partnership in Caring Volunteers who will travel to Rwanda in January, 2017

APICS also supports supports Butare University Teaching Hospital (BUTH). It is a five hundred bed  hospital that serves a rural population of two million people.  The hospital is staffed by thirty-two specialist doctors and two hundred and fifty-five nurses.  BUTH treats seven thousand inpatients and forty-nine thousand, two hundred outpatients annually. APICS works with the hospital’s social work department by purchasing food for the hospital.

Regular updates on Carolyn’s and Lynn’s work in Rwanda will be posted on our new web site, www.apartnershipincaring.com, and on A Partnership in Caring’s Facebook page. Donations to support our ongoing work can be made via PayPal on our web site, or by mail to A Partnership in Caring Society, c/o Elsa Jensen, P.O. Box 1481, Antigonish, NS B2G 2L7.  For more information, A Partnership in Caring can be reached via email at apic.rwanda@gmail.com or call (902) 870-7863.

A Partnership in Caring’s Chair Maria van Vonderen would like to thank the public for their ongoing support. “Our goal is to raise $10,000 annually to support projects in Rwanda,” said van Vonderen. “A Partnership in Caring Society will be making its seventh trip to Rwanda in 2017.  Over the years we have build strong and lasting partnerships.  Your support enables us to continue this important work in Rwanda.”

A Partnership In Caring continues work on projects in Rwanda

A group of Antigonish area health care professionals are sharing their experiences after spending four weeks recently in southern Rwanda. This is the fourth year the group, called a Partnership in Caring has travelled to the Butare University Teaching Hospital. Partnership Chair Maria van Vonderen says much of the work was a continuation of projects it has focused in previous years, including collaborating with the social work department at the hospital. 989XFM News Director Ken Kingston spoke to Maria van Vonderen

A Partnership in Caring 2014

This short film produced by the Antigonish County Adult Learning Association shows highlights of the 2014 trip to Rwanda by volunteers of A Partnership in Caring (APIC), a group of Antigonish area health care professionals. The video clips were shot on location in Rwanda by APIC volunteers. Included in the video is a clip from the production “Clowns”, by students of Sister Lillian Gaudet’s music students in Antigonish in support of APIC’s work.