We are raising funds to build a clinic in Central Mozambique in an area that has no access to formal healthcare and leaves thousands of people susceptible to prolonged illness and death from diseases that could be easily prevented with basic healthcare.  Recently, one more tragedy happened that made our family decide something must be done to change this.  We are raising $25,000 to build a clinic that will provide healthcare to more than 3,000 people in the region.    

Nhampuepue is a rural village in central Mozambique where there are no water, sanitation or electrical services. The majority of the population are subsistence farmers who live in traditional mud huts on less than a dollar a day. There are many kids who have no access to schools or medical assistance. Twice monthly, a government appointed nurse visits the village and consults under a tree.

The photo below is where a local nurse currently sees patients 2x/month.

Roads in and out of the community

Typical home, housing numerous families

There is an urgent need to build a clinic for the families who live in the surrounding area.

Richard van der Zwan (my brother in law), lives in the area with his wife Mercia and 2 boys and employs many of the local workers on agricultural projects.

A few months ago, Richard who frequently visits the village, was talking with Lukas, one of the dedicated workers who grows sesame seed. Lukas got married recently and his wife Maria had just given birth to a baby boy called Domingos, the love of their life. They were the proudest parents. When Richard visited Lukas a few weeks later, he asked how baby Domingos was doing. A devastated father told Richard that after a short illness, their beloved son had passed away. Barely a few months old.

Baby Domingos received no specific diagnosis, no immediate care and therefore no appropriate medication was given, leaving the parents to watch their son die.

This part of Mozambique is rife with Malaria, TB, HIV and  all kinds of gastrointestinal and waterborne illnesses as well as a large portion of the population suffering from malnutrition. All of these are preventable today.

Richard and Mercia who themselves have 2 young boys, could not accept the loss of baby Domingos and thought that they must do whatever it takes and not stand by and watch these devastating losses, repeating themselves far too often.

We have  formally decided to build a community clinic to treat children, pregnant women and newborn babies as well as all the main illnesses affecting the population: TB, malaria and HIV.
We are calling it "Nova Esperanca", meaning New Hope in Portuguese.

We need to raise $25,000 to build the infrastructure, get supplies, furnishing and basic materials to run effectively. The clinic will be handed over to the Department of Health once completed. This is standard procedure, where the clinic will then receive an electrical transformer and connections to the national grid.

Use of Funds (US$)
 
cement blocks                                                  $1,870
bags of cement                                                 $810
stone aggregate                                               $480
sand for concrete and plaster                  $500
roofing timber                                                   $620
roof sheeting                                                      $400
nails                                                                          $110
tying wire                                                              $160
rebar                                                                        $352
ceiling                                                                      $550
paint                                                                         $417
misc. tools                                                             $500
toilets, hand basins                                          $1,120
doors and windows                                          $750
labor                                                                          $5,500
legalization of land and building               $917
logistics vehicle                                                   $5,000
transport and fuel                                              $1,000
local & provincial administration fees    $1,000
supplies                                                                     $2,500
Total                                                                           $24,556

Richard has a background in building and successfully completing construction projects and estimates the clinic can be built in the following 6 month schedule, using local workers:

Timeline
Funds received

0-2 months land prep (bush clearing and levelling), licensing and traditional ceremonies, material purchasing and delivery.

3 months construction work

1 month finishing touches, ceremonies and handover

Other Uses
In other villages, the community clinic has also become a space for:
-Pregnant women and mothers of children up to 2 years of age to receive educational classes covering health, nutrition, hygiene, safety and growing vegetables
-Pregnant mothers receive a “baby box” containing essentials for new babies (diapers, baby soaps blankets infant formula etc)
-Basic school facilities for the younger kids
-Overall safe space for the local population

Once this clinic is built, it will run indefinitely.
 
Updates:
-Meetings with leaders at Apoiar, (an NGO that Richards wife works with), said the clinic would be a base for their programs to provide in-school feeding projects and pre/post-natal education projects . Currently no such support is provided.

-The Department of Health have said that if we build sleeping quarters at the clinic they will have more medical staff based there on a permanent basis.  We have added an additional $5,000 (for a total of $25,000) to build these together to expand the facilities of the clinic.   

Project Manager

Richard van der Zwan: Richard has 10+ years’ experience in agriculture, rural development, construction and natural oils/biofuels production. He has been living in Mozambique for over 10 years and knows the language, local laws and works with both foreign and local companies to get projects executed.

Some examples of his expertise and successful projects are listed below:
*Operations manager on construction and commissioning of $2,500,000 ethanol plant in Mozambique. Budgeting, procurement and finance duties. Donors: Soros foundation, Danish international development agency.

*Project manager on construction of Virgin coconut oil plant, Inhambane, Mozambique.  Budget $30,000 private financing.

*Construction of virgin coconut oil plant Nova sofala, Mozambique. Budget $50,000 private financing.

*Construction of dry food storage warehouse Dondo Mozambique Budget $ 85,000 private financing.

Community and Health Manager
Mercia Chande: Mercia is a social sciences honors graduate who has worked in community health, community and rural development, education and nutrition of over 10 years. She is the  country manager of Apoiar,  a Portuguese NGO operating in Mozambique for more then 25 years, primarily in school feeding projects and in pre and post-natal education and feeding projects.

Here is a photo of a clinic in a different part of the country, that is similar to the one that will be built in Nhampuepue.

We are hopeful to create a place where children and their families have medical facilities and supplies on their doorstep, where basic health is a human right.

Thank you for your support and generosity with getting this clinic up and running. This is a chance to impact thousands of children's lives who would not have the opportunity to get any medical care now and in the future. Many generations will be changed by this meaningful addition to their community. They will never know why someone on the other side of the world cared enough about them and their children and grandchildren. But they will see the result, daily.