During our visit to Bamenda this year, we were pleased to call in to see the new Ante Natal Clinic and Infant Welfare Hall at the Nkwen Health Centre in action.  This project was funded by our long-standing supporters, Gompels HealthCare and, although by the time we arrived it was nearing the end of that morning’s clinic, it was still buzzing with lots of mothers and babies attending for their infant vaccinations.  The Chief of the Health Centre, Mme Emmaculate, told us that, in the past, women used to wait for hours outside a very small hall, sleeping on the grass, just hoping to be seen.  The new hall provides sufficient accommodation for 70 women and their babies to wait in comfort for their Ante Natal and Infant Welfare appointments.  Two fully equipped consulting rooms were also included in this project, including one dedicated to Family Planning Services.

The majority of the women who are currently benefitting from this service have been Internally Displaced from the rural villages  because of the war.  Many are victims of Gender Based Violence: they are destitute and their children are malnourished, but these issues are being addressed at the clinic and the health of the women and their children is steadily improving.  The Centre is a real boon to the community and is being well used,  with the number of women giving birth there having risen from just 2 or 3 per month in the past, to 18-20 per month.

Mme Emmaculate, Chief of the Health Centre at Nkwen, in the new consulting room.