Health Challenges
- Life expectancy at birth is only 46.3 years.
- Only 1 in 5 children above 5 years old use mosquito nets
- HIV accounts for 16,000 deaths each year.
Where Have We Been?
In 2008, the people of Roche Village identified the need for a permanent healthcare facility, thus the Roche Health Center was built. The doors of the center opened in 2011, providing more than 20,000 villagers with their first ever access to permanent healthcare. Through a generous donation, Village Life is continuing to expand healthcare access by building the M. Anne Haire Reproductive and Child Health Center next to the Roche Health Center. This health center will be complete in February 2024 providing better access to maternal and fetal care, reproductive services, family planning, and cervical cancer screenings.
Composed of students, faculty, and professionals, mobile field clinics also allow Village Life to treat immediate illness for thousands of people, helping create a healthier population in our target villages. For example, rapid diagnostic testing for malaria is utilized in the mobile clinics to improve the accuracy of treatment and focus on malaria prevention.
Where Are We Going?
Village Life’s goal is to continue to build our partnership and skill-sharing opportunities within our Tanzanian communities and the United States. Through the completion of the Reproductive and Child Health Center we will provide robust services for women of all ages in the Roche community, including soon-to-be-mothers. We will also continue to work in the Burere and Nyambogo communities and identify healthcare needs and opportunities during medical brigade mobile clinics. Dental care is a huge need within these communities. Through a 5 year dental plan, Village Life has assessed the dental needs within each of the three target villages and will provide dental care and treatment beginning in 2024.What Do We Need?
The M. Anne Haire Reproductive and Child Health Center (RCHC) building is now complete and it’s time to fill it with the contents needed to serve pregnant women during their pregnancies, through delivery, and beyond as they nurture their newborn. A financial donation will help provide items such as: infant warmers, autoclave, ultrasounds, ambulance, neonatal resuscitation, and more.
As we continue to build our partnership opportunities in Tanzania and abroad, donations will support healthcare providers coming to work and learn at Roche, as well as provide additional training to upscale the current abilities of Roche medical staff. Monetary as well as in-person resources will be crucial to continue to expand services at both the Roche Health Center (RHC) and the Reproductive and Child Health Center (RCHC) clinics, as well as in the Burere and Nyambogo villages.
CHANGEMAKERS TAKE ACTION
Help Us, Help Mamas – Help us raise money to stock the Reproductive and Child Health Center (RCHC) with items such as an infant baby warmer, ultrasound machine, autoclave, ambulance, neonatal resuscitation kit, maternity hospital beds, etc…
