In and around Kolwezi, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, many residents do not have access to essential healthcare due to the high costs of services. When sick, people tend to either self-medicate or resort to traditional medicine, avoiding visits to medical facilities. In the outskirts of the city, facilities are rare, and when they do exist, they are small and privately owned structures, run at times by non-medical staff.
Since 2022, the mobile clinic Bon Pasteur Clinique de Santé has been reaching out to the communities of Kanina, Kisote, Mukoma and Tshala to bring essential healthcare services to those who cannot otherwise reach them. These communities, located in remote and underserved areas, face many difficulties in accessing medical services, from long distances to reach health centers and providers, to delayed diagnosis and treatment. Staffed by 2 doctors and 2 nurses, the mobile clinic provides free primary-care and pediatric services, obstetrics and gynecology care for the most vulnerable children and women living in rural areas.
Julie, a young mother from Tshala, remembers how difficult things were after giving birth to her daughter, Joyce, now a healthy and joyful little girl:
“I wasn’t mentally ready to become a mother,” Julie recalls. “I was eating badly, and wasn’t told after giving birth that I needed to be closely monitored by a medical practitioner. When my sister came to see me, she had noticed that I hadn’t been well since the birth of my child, that I wasn’t producing any milk and that Joyce my daughter was in poor health. As she was studying with BP, she knew about the mobile clinic and advised me to go.”
At the time, Julie could not afford any medical treatment. At the Mobile Clinic, the Bon Pasteur provided her with essential care free of charge and supplements for Joyce to take for a few months. Julie also received education on maternal and newborn health. “There is no education of that sort at the hospital for new parents. The mobile clinic really helped me to get better psychologically and physically providing education on post-birth care, child development, hygiene and nutrition. Now, since things have evolved very positively, I only have to come once a month for checkups.”
The health of mothers and newborns is the foundation of healthy families and communities. Yet every day, 10 babies die each day before reaching their first month in the DRC. Through regular outreach, health and hygiene education, prenatal care, treatment for children suffering malnutrition, follow-ups for pregnant women, and vaccination campaigns, the mobile clinic Bon Pasteur Clinique de Santé contributes every day to improve the health and living conditions of the population in and around Kolwezi, especially vulnerable young mothers and children.
Because health isn’t a privilege for the few, it is a right for all.
