One of REE’s first projects when it was incorporated in 2019 was the construction of a 5-room health clinic on the campus of GS Gitabage, a remote PK-9 school in the Rulindo district. Despite pandemic delays, bad weather, and the inflation of construction costs, that first clinic opened in 2022.
Opening day, Aug.11, 2022: the Gitabage community meets the staff and gets its first look inside….
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The clinic saves area residents a two-hour walk to the nearest health center.
Construction on maternity and laboratory buildings finished in late fall 2022, and in 2023 those were gradually furnished. In August 2024, six more rooms for inpatients were finished, and construction on a kitchen begins in January ‘25 . When every building is fully equipped, and the Rwandan Ministry of Health certifies the complex as a district “health center,” it will be staffed 24/7. The Rwandan government will fund its staff and operating costs, with at least one nurse living onsite. ($8,000 is still needed to build an overnight quarters for nurses.)
Newly-built laboratory
Women waiting to be seen at the general clinic, open five days a week.
Maternity recovery room.
New inpatient rooms, finished August 2024