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MARCH 2024

Dear Friends of Mabawa,

it has been a few months since we have given you updates on the latest projects.

 

In Nyamyumba all is going well: the construction of the 3 additional classrooms that were requested by the government for the

Secondary School and students are already taking classes in the new spaces.

Regarding the WASH 3 project, which included connecting the showers and latrines to the water supply, doubling the showers, and work on the probationers' rooms with addition of small toilet with shower, we are waiting for the last photographs. A visit to Nyamyumba in late May is planned and we will certainly share information and photographs when we return!

 

From Switzerland we are working on the preparation of the annual meeting (soon you will receive information and the "save the date" and the final reports of the projects executed in 2023.

This year we were asked to replicate the project MHM Girls Room in another school, creating a model that can be implemented throughout the District based on the success of the project carried out in Nyamyumba. During the visit at the end of May, a site visit will be made to the school group in Mwoya, about 45 minutes from the village.

The Girls Rooms built for Nyamyumba Secondary School and the related project to educate and raise awareness about issues surrounding menstrual health are working very well: girls are using the spaces, taking care of their hygiene, properly disposing of hygiene materials, and enthusiastically attending the seminars. The number of male students attending the seminars is also increasing month after month.

DECEMBER 2023

Auguri 2023

The construction work of the three new secondary school classes are progressing very well, and we are confident that the classrooms will be operational by the time the children return to school in January.

Virginia Tech University students have concluded their life-experience in Nyamyumba

They had an opportunity to inaugurate the new Casa Mabawa 3, consisting of two dormitories with toilets and showers.

NOVEMBER 2023

Thank you for the participation at the autumn dinner!

Save the date

As every year, Mabawa holds an autumn dinner in November to have a good time with its many friends and supporters.

We look forward to seeing you, by reservation*

 

Thursday, November 23 from 7:00 p.m.

By our friends from the:


Trattoria del Glicine
Piazza Santo Stefano

Via Vittorio Veneto 1

22012 Cernobbio CO

The price is set at CHF 55 and includes: 

  • aperitif with bubbles or wine of your choice

  • polenta with various side dishes, which was very popular last year!

  • a variety of desserts

  • water, wine and coffee included

 

During the evening we will scroll through photographs on the projects carried out this year and those still in progress.

* confirming your attendance by e-mail to info@mabawa.org or by phone/whatsapp to the numbers:

+41 79 240 15 07 (Katrine), +41 79 242 44 62 (Marinella), +41 76 224 05 86 (Barbara)

OCTOBER 2023

Our president Katrine returned from a trip to Nyamyumba, bringing news about current projects and many photographs.

The WASH 2023 project

After the friendly toilets (2021) and the MHM Girls Rooms (2022), for 2023, the project included connecting the showers and latrines to the water supply, doubling the showers, and work on the attendants' rooms with addition of small toilet with shower.

Girls dormitories

The arrangement of suitcases in the girls' dormitories created problems with the escape plan in case of fire, so simple shelves were built at the edge of the wall where they could be stored.

Classes for secondary school

Despite from the library carved out an extra classroom, the number of classrooms for juniors was still less than the demand: in the first juniors there were more than 86 kids! After discussions with district officials, we decided to start work on the construction of 3 new classrooms. Work began in early October and is already at a very good stage: speeded up by the presence of numerous laborers, a sign that the people of Nyamyumba really need the extra income in these difficult times.

Mabawa House 3

After a hiatus, construction work has resumed on House 3, which will house the VirginiaTech boys who spend time in Nyamyumba village each year.

Hypertension Project

Paola Galeazzi and Andreina Viviani, nurses from Ticino did an excellent job in Nyamyumba, working for the hypertension project.

SEPTEMBER 2023

New images have arrived concerning work on showers and toilets for the WASH 2023 project.

AUGUST 2023

Dear Friends of Mabawa,

although our site's news page has "gone on vacation" for the summer, we cannot say the same for projects in Rwanda.

Work on the WASH 2023 project continues at full speed, and after the probationers' rooms with bathrooms, the doubling and connection of the girls' showers to the water supply is well underway.

The library, which was implemented in early 2023 with lights and new tables, is also more beautiful and functional than ever.

A nice overview of the secondary school as seen from the entrance

Panoramica della scuola secondaria

Some pictures from this summer with description (click on photo for detail)

MAI 2023

Mabawa participated in the Joint Action Development Forum - JADF again this year.

Our efforts took the form of building a house for a poor family and in Nyamyumba with the construction of the Girls Room (which are part of the governmental MHM project) but especially with the implementation of the boundary wall made especially necessary given its proximity to the new army recruit barracks, just a few hundred meters from the school complex.

Also as every year we participated financially.

JADF

A few words about the JADF (click here for website):

JADF members come from institutions and organizations working at the district level, including public, private, local, and international NGOs, faith-based organizations, and other development partners.

The JADF serves as a non-hierarchical discussion platform in which each member has an equal role: to represent their constituency; to provide open, comprehensive and transparent information on their development activities and achievements; to discuss progress in the District toward sustainable and inclusive local development; to learn; and ultimately to improve. JADF meetings are thus a key platform that facilitates the implementation of effective decentralization by providing a forum for service delivery and accountability for development planning.

The JADF builds on the traditional values of solidarity and mutual support to implement a common agenda to ensure the social welfare of people. The JADF applies the traditional practice that any urgent activity or task that could not have been handled without the help of the community can be assisted.

Visit from Assumpta Byukusenge, acting district deputy mayor for social affairs

The deputy mayor of the District visited Nyamyumba Secondary School and especially the facilities of the MHM Project which aroused strong interest among local authorities.

Thanks to the construction of the Friendly Toilets, the two Girls Rooms, the education and awareness project, and the ongoing work on dedicated showers and toilets for girls, the school has become the model site for the Sexual Reproductive Health Education project for all schools in the District.

Wash 2023 project: photographs of works

Photographs have arrived of the work on the women's dormitory probationers' rooms, part of the "WASH 2023" project co-funded by Fosit with federal funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)

APRIL 2023

GENERAL ASSEMBLY DOCUMENTS

Dear Friends, dear Friends, here are the documents of the assembly for the year 2022 that was held on April 2023 at the multi-purpose hall of the Vezia town hall.

President's report

for the year 2022

Photographic presentation

*.pdf 15.9 Mb

Meeting minutes 20.04.23

Accounts and Budget 2022

MARCH 2023

CALL TO GENERAL MEETING

Dear Friends,

it is assembly time!

 

The general assembly for the year 2022 will be held:

 

Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 6:15 p.m.

at the multi-purpose hall of the Vezia town hall (Via Daldini 13)

or Zoom (upon request via mail)

and will be followed by dinner at the nearby Osteria Riva.

Of the 25 available places, very few remain, so we kindly ask you to confirm your attendance by e-mail to info@mabawa.org or by SMS/Whatsapp to 079 242 44 62 or 076 224 05 86 as soon as possible, and in any case by April 10.

The cost of the dinner menu is set at CHF 40 including an appetizer at the table, a dish of your choice between pork cheeks with polenta and perch fillets with rice, dessert and coffee, excluding wine ...They are all delicious, we tested them for you!

 

PS. With your confirmation also indicate your preference for the second.

Meeting minutes 19.5.22

.pdf 261 Kb (ITA)

SAVE THE DATE

Download invitation (ITA)

.pdf 393 Kb

Parcheggio per assemblea

REMEMBER NOT MUZZANO!

THIS YEAR WE CELEBRATE "IN THE HOUSE" OF MABAWA

Updated book

Have you had a chance to browse through, virtually or in hard copy, the photo book with the history of Mabawa and the accomplishments of these 19 years yet?

 

If you are interested click on the corresponding language to see the pdf!

FEBRUARY 2023

Directly from Nyamyumba

Our president Katrine left for Nyamyumba, accompanied by her husband Ermanno who is an Eng. ETH, left for Nyamyumba to supervise the plans for the start of work on the WASH 2023 project, which we had talked about last month, concerning the doubling of showers in the girls' section of the secondary school, work on the latrines and facilities for the probationers' rooms.

With the funds raised for the library a small improvement could be started: large tables and chairs for students and lamps for reading. For now it will be 9 2-meter tables for students, which we would like to increase based on the funds raised.

The two MHM Girls Rooms are now up and running and the girls involved in the " RED MOON " program: awareness and education on everything related to health and menstrual cycle management are already about 60.

As usual, a community meeting was held during Katrine's visit, a crucial time for listening to the needs and news of the inhabitants of the hills that make up the Great Nyamyumba.

JANUARY 2023

New 2023 project: third WASH phase for Nyamyumba Secondary School girls' area

We have received confirmation of funding in recent days for a major project planned for 2023, which we submitted to Fosit calls.

Some details about the project:

In 2006, when it opened, Nyamyumba Secondary School had 94 students. Only a few years later the figure had already doubled and today there are 518 students (221 boys and 297 girls). Facilities, built in urgency and on the basis of need, are largely insufficient in number and quality, having undergone only a few maintenance and improvement works in recent years.

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After the implementation in 2021 of the dedicated school waterworks and the construction of the Friendly Toilets at night for girls (as part of the women's empowerment project associated with menstrual hygiene infrastructure) we are now ready to take action on the third and final part of this project:

 

  • Part A doubling and connection of showers and latrines to the water supply + replacement of Turkish toilets in poor condition

  • Part B adaptation of the probationers' quarters with the addition of a shower-wc room.

 

Being that the facilities in the boys' section were built a few years ago and are hygienically and numerically adequate, this is a very important project in our view; this is not only because of the work on the infrastructure itself: from the perspective of gender equality and the major commitment to women's empowerment, we believe it is essential to bring the basic hygiene facilities dedicated to girls up to the same level as those dedicated to boys.

DECEMBER 2022

Girls Room Updates

We received some updated photographs representing the inside of the Girls Rooms, the two rooms for the practical and theoretical management of menstrual periods (click here for more informations).

Construction work on the MHM rooms began in late summer 2022 and the two MHM rooms will be put into use by mid-January for the start of the new quarter.

 

These days they are being furnished 'sparsely' with material from the dormitories, pending the furniture to be supplied by a local carpenter. The interior decoration was done by students from Virginia Tech University, who for the past nine years have spent one or two periods a year in Nyamyumba, doing many useful jobs: construction, cultivation, computer training, English language,... 

 

Included in the project is the construction of an incinerator for hygienic materials.

Mabawa 2022

During the autumn dinner, a screen showed a carousel of photos of the projects carried out this year.

We thought it would be a good idea to publish it on this page as well, to look back on these 365 rewarding days together! 

NOVEMBER 2022

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Mabawa Heart Project
IO DONNA.

An article in the Corriere's IO DONNA supplement discusses the experience of Isabella Hunjan and Clara Stroppa at the Nyamyumba Medical Dispensary for the Mabawa Cuore project for diagnosis and treatment of hypertension and cardiovascular risks.

Click here to read the article online

AUTUMN DINNER

Dear Friends of Mabawa,
we confirm that the fall dinner will be held:


Friday, November 11, 2022
from 7:00 p.m.


By our friends from the:

Trattoria del Glicine
Piazza Santo Stefano

Via Vittorio Veneto 1

22012 Cernobbio CO

Invito cena autunno 2022
  • a rich aperitif with bubbles or wine of your choice

  • polenta with various side dishes
    a variety of desserts
    with water, wine and coffee included

CHF 50 per person

*for those who would like a vegetarian/vegan alternative, please specify this with registration, which will be confirmed with payment via QR coupon.

Friends of Mabawa Italy can pay directly on the spot upon whatsapp reservation at

+41 79 240 15 07.

Flyer in pdf

.pdf, 10 Mb

OCTOBER 2022

Isabella Hunjan
Isabella Hunjan con il Prof. Parati e il Dott. Muggli

CONGRATULATIONS!

After the two months spent in Nyamyumba working hard on the Mabawa Heart project, "our" Ph.D. student Isabella Hunjan presented and discussed her thesis, based precisely on the hypertension project.

She received her Doctor of Medicine degree with 110 cum laude...

We are all so proud to count her among those who give "Mabawa Heart" great value and the light it deserves.

Tesi

.pdf, 19 Mb

Presentazione in PowerPoint

.pdf, 4.4 Mb

SAVE THE DATE

Dear Friends of Mabawa,
we anticipate that our regular fall dinner will be held:


Friday, November 11, 2022
from 7:00 p.m.


By our friends from the:

Trattoria del Glicine
Piazza Santo Stefano, Via Vittorio Veneto, 1, 22012 Cernobbio CO

NEW QR COUPONS

As you may know, since October the old coupons are no longer valid, and we too have been updating regarding dues payments and donations.

You can find them on the support us page or HERE.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP US?

Making a donation with TWINT is really quick and easy, just follow the instructions below.

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AUGUST 2022

We had been keeping an eye on it for some time, waiting for the updated images: finally the Google Earth satellites have passed over Nyamyumba again, giving us the updated overview of the whole village!

 

On the right is the detail of the secondary school with all the new features, including those of the last two years.

 

To all of you, thank you: together we did well!

Google Earth view

JULY 2022

We have updated our historical "photo book"

where you can find the history of the association from its inception and accomplishments to date in the now

"Great Nyamyumba."

 

 

To take a look just click here!

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Simposio, Dott. Muggli

Dr. Franco Muggli is in Rwanda for the start-up-delayed first by the pandemic and then by the international situation-of the second phase of the hypertension project, together with Dr. Isabella Junjan and Dr. Chiara Stroppa.

 

This is to deepen the clinical picture and take charge of the most at-risk patients identified during the first phase of the project. Great turnout and success for this second phase as well!

The picture was taken today, July 21 in Kigali at the

 

RCP HTA Symposium

for hypertension and cardiovascular risks.

Simposio, Prof. Parati
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MABAWA GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR THE YEAR 2021

Katrine and Ilaria are in Nyamyumba for important meetings and inspections for the Girls Room project.

They sent us some pictures of the Friendly Toilets for Girls, our new projects in Nyamyumba Secondary School...how wonderful!

More photographs and new updates soon.

MABAWA GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR THE YEAR 2021

After the organizational uncertainties of the last years, now the provisions make us hopeful and we can organize the usual assembly with aperitif and dinner in company that will be held

 

Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 18:15
at the multipurpose room of Muzzano (Via alla Selva 3)

with the following agenda:

 

  1. Election of the Chairperson of the Day

  2. Designation of tellers

  3. Reading of the minutes of the meeting of 06/24/2021

  4. Treasurer's and auditor's report of fiscal year 2021.

  5. Approval of accounts

  6. 2022 Committee

  7. President's Report

 

In order to organize the best aperitif and dinner, we kindly ask you to confirm your presence by email to info@mabawa.org or by SMS/Whatsapp to nr. 079/242.44.62 or 076/224.05.86 within May 7.

DOCUMENTS

Assembly convocation

pdf file, 366 Kb

Committee

pdf file, 70 Kb

Assembly minutes 24.06.2021

pdf file, 272 Kb

Rapporto della presidente

pdf file, 748 Kb

Conti per il 2021

pdf file, 2.8 Mb

APRIL 2022

FRIENDLY NIGHT TOILETS FOR GIRLS' DORMITORIES

 

Last year we received a request from the school for night toilets (friendly toilets) adjacent to the girls' dormitory, which often took advantage of the surrounding lawn to avoid straying in the dark.

The works are progressing very well, as you can see from the pictures we received from Nyamyumba.

APRIL 2022

NEW PROJECT IN NYAMYUMBA

After the implementation of the friendly toilets that are under construction, we intend to give the girls an intimate space where they can manage everything related to hygiene and menstrual health by building two MHM Rooms (Menstrual Health Management).

This is part of a project that is focused on not only to building: giving access to suitable infrastructure will
promote awareness and education to girls on issues that revolve around this topic.

What we would like to achieve will be a change of mentality not only of female students, but also of teachers and school management.

Panoramica

The structural project also includes the construction of an incinerator for the disposal of "sanitary pads", which today are thrown into septic tanks causing obvious problems to the structures and the environment.

MARCH 2022

The school project in Bwegera is now complete and we have received some updates:

there are 464 students including 198 girls and 266 boys, who now have 5 large and bright classrooms with furniture in the right amount, 12 toilets connected to the septic tank and a fountain for hygiene and hydration.

Thank you to the Adiuvare Foundation for making this possible!

After the wall to protect the girls...we're setting the stage for nightly "friendly toilets" in their dorms.

 

This project relates to Mineduc's commitment to the issue of menstrual health, which we took to ❤️

The boundary wall, which was somehow imposed by the government, initially seemed to us to be a non-priority expense.

Eventually, after pressure from the district who participated in the work by providing the bricks at cost price, the wall was erected around the girls' area.

With things done, we realize it was needed and we are glad we did it!

It gives them great security, especially during the night, and this is in addition to the extensive ongoing project for women empowerment: friendly night toilets, MHM room for menstrual management and incinerator for sanitary material.

FEBRUARY 2022

Nyamyumba is following the example set by the Pygmy-Batwa with tea-growing plantations has also been followed by Nyamyumba.

 

Here are the photographs of the implementation of the terraces.

 

It is an expensive investment for the farmers, but thanks to microcredit it is possible: the 4 hectares cost CHF 1500, of which 500 were advanced with microcredit.

 

Tea is a profitable crop and after 12 months it should start to give a first hint of harvest. We will keep you updated!

Here are some of the 15 university students supported by Mabawa with scholarships.

Benjamin, wanted us to meet them: he was one of those first head of household children that we have helped since 1999, first with food support and small things, then with scholarships.

He graduated, did a master's degree while working and today he is an important executive of an electronics company.

He will become one of our Tutors for secondary kids.

How satisfying!

Borse di studio universitarie
Adeline Mukandera

Adeline Mukandera, a scholarship student since from the beginning in secondary school, is now studying pedagogy at the university.

She will become an elementary school teacher and if she wanted to, with a master's degree she could become a secondary school teacher.

Freshly harvested corn... Just arrived has been sold to the secondary school, which is increasingly attentive to children's nutrition.

To show it off, it was hung on the outside walls of the new dryin Silo before delivery.

The drying silo is part of the agricultural projects and was requested by the cooperatives and implemented in 2020 to solve the problem of mold that puts crops at risk.

Schermata 2022-02-10 alle 09.31.34.png

The FOSIT website mentions the project underway at Nyamyumba Secondary School:

 

the construction of friendly toilets for girls, which will then be developed with the implementation of

 

- a room MHM (Menstrual Health Management) room for    the management of the menstrual cycle

- an incinerator for hygienic material.

 

 

Take a Look!

Here is the arrangement of the Books For Africa shipment in the special shelves built by our local carpenter Fabien.

The enthusiastic students were eager to unload and open the boxes, arranging the numerous books they received.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!

Here are the latest photos from the school in Bwegera (Congo DRC), where we built a new school with 5 classrooms, toilets with a septic tank, and implemented a fountain for the 347 students of the elementary school.

We are particularly happy with the success because, being a "difficult" country with a war situation that seems unresolvable, we were able to demonstrate that sometimes it is good to trust.

Many thanks to the Adiuvare Foundation for the important participation and FOSIT for the continuous support!

We have decided to start the construction of the boundary walls of the female section of the secondary school since it is an obligation from the specifications of the ministry.

 

So far we had not received any pressure but the "coming and goings" from the army recruit's training camp seems to be a sign of a certain urgency.

 

Would you like to help us build it? The price per meter for a height of two meters is about 90 CHF.

 

 

We also have Twint!

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Curtains have finally been installed in the new hypertension project room.

 

The rest is on the way, the project is temporarily on hiatus due to Covid-19 and we hope to start phase two before long.

JANUARY 2022

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...no longer hopeful: announced in mid-2019, the books donated by Books for Africa (USA) finally arrived in Nyamyumba. The delays are due to Covid-19 and all the related transport problems but now here they are!

All that remains is to place them in a library (construction of shelves and furniture), which will require some funds.... do you want to help us?

Every little bit counts! A library costs around 120.

A big Thank you, Books for Africa!

 

 

 

 

We also have Twint now!

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December 2021

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Dear friends,

the current situation does not provide any security... on security :)

The committee has decided unanimously not to risk organising another event and then having to cancel it.

This is why our wishes will be "virtual" but no less heartfelt! We are all thinking of you with great nostalgia.

Important projects have been carried out in Nyamyumba this year too, and for this we must also thank you for your loyal support.

In the photo, the secondary school children are trying their hand at a "friendly" basketball game... because the desire to win is not lacking!

NEW!

We have made donating to Mabawa even easier and more straightforward using the TWINT app.

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Charity stall in favour of Mabawa

Dear friends,

we invite you to come and visit us on 12 December 2021 from 10:00 to 18:00 at the Hotel Pestalozzi in Lugano. A stall with children's clothes, African fabrics, honey from "our" Nyamyumba village in Rwanda and many other nice things! All the proceeds will be donated to the project 2022 dedicated to the girls of the secondary school.

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October 2021

The lack of news on this page in the last few months is not due to Mabawa standing still... far from it! Here are some of the latest projects completed and in use.

Now we are preparing the new projects but soon we will update the pages of our website!

Don't forget to follow us on facebook and instagram!

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
News Bwegera
News Home Prof 2
News Spogliatoio

September 2021

Guinigi Xmas

This Christmas, with the purchase of

MABAWA BRANDED GIFTS

present in the I GUINIGI catalogue, a reference point in the corporate gifts market, you can support our association!

Thanks to Mabawa Italia for working on this wonderful project.

Logo Guinigi
Nyaruguru.png

Nyaruguru District, our long-standing partner, has won the Best District 2019-2020 award.

Click on the photo on the left for details.

Nyamyumba School won first prize for both Nyaruguru District and South Province!

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July 2021

We are currently working on the 2022 projects that we will present in September.

 

The minutes have been uploaded on the assembly page.

 

You can find all the information by clicking on the red button on the right.

May-June 2021

IMPORTANT!

 

THE GENERAL MEETING AND DINNER HAVE BEEN MOVED!

 

They will still be held on Thursday 24 June 2021 at 6.15 p.m.

 

Grotto della Salute in Via dei Sindacatori 2A in Lugano-Massagno

May-June 2021

Katrine and Dr Franco Muggli are in Nyamumba after a year's absence.

On their return we will have lots of news and photographs to publish and show you at the

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MABAWA

which will be held

Thursday 24 June 2021 at 6.15 p.m.
Ca' dal Bigatt via Carona 41 Lugano-Paradiso


We will soon publish a dedicated page with information and data.

Save the date!

Situazione Covid

April 2021

Clothes donated by friends have been distributed to the Batwa Pygmies... a great party! Thank you very much!

The work on the secondary school aqueduct is now complete.

 

The District has requested a fountain and has been placed on the route so that it can be shared with the farmers.

 

After discovering and connecting a second spring on the route, the school now has plenty of water, so much so that they are considering allocating part of it to the dispensary.

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Screening Summary and Analysis

Pdf of slides

(Dr. Muggli)

The 19th European Congress of Internal Medicine (ECIM) was held in March in virtual form and our project was presented.

If you are interested, you can find all the information about this research below. We can be reached by email at info@mabawa.org  or by telephone at +41 79 240 15 07 for further information.

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March 2021

From Rwanda and Congo come news and some photographs of ongoing projects.

In Congo, the reconstruction work at the school in Bwegera is always progressing at a good pace.

 

In the meantime, classes are held in shifts in the classrooms that are still standing and usable.

Due to the lockdown, the project of the aqueduct dedicated to the secondary school is now followed by Eng. Ntegerejimana, with whom we had already collaborated.

During the works, a second source was discovered and we promptly connected to it... more water available!

The second "Home Prof" is finished and only the furniture is missing.

After Easter it will be occupied by the teachers.

Thank you  ❤️ to Edy for her donation, which made it possible to make new uniforms for the preschool: the old ones were now unusable ...with a few exceptions from some good "laundry" moms!

February 2021

Projects in Nyamyumba are continuing at a diminished pace: lockdown of the country for major outbreaks in the cities, fortunately, our area is unscathed for now.

Students have returned to school, all wearing masks. The current difficult situation has touched some families and we have had to face the problem of unpaid fees. Mabawa did not want to intervene in order not to set a precedent and, on our advice, the fees for families with problems are rationed and the situation is under control.

Our scholarships are more appreciated than ever.

The new "Teachers Home" is nearing completion but, as always, finishes take time.

We're still thinking about the ideal location for the sports field dressing and it's not easy to put together with convenience, security, and square footage! For now, what they call "the stadium" has been spun off and in operation.

Campo Sportivo
Spalti

The aqueduct for the secondary school is progressing at a fast pace: great excitement with the spring that spills water: watch the video!

In Congo R.D.C. the construction of the new school of Bwegera (after the violent flood that made the old structure unusable) has begun and is proceeding with a rapidity that confirms the necessity of our intervention.

Thanks to those who financed: the Adiuvare Foundation and Mabawa Italy.

January 2021

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Mabawa, with Dr. Franco Muggli, is proud to report that our hypertension project, sent to the committee of the 19th European Congress of Internal Medicine (ECIM) to be held virtually March 18-20, 2021 has been accepted and will be presented.

 

 

Thanks to the valuable work carried out by Alice and the health animators in the region of the Nyamyumba Medical Dispensary, from February to July 2020, it was possible to measure the blood pressure values of more than seven thousand inhabitants.

 

 

These data will now be used to proceed to the second phase of the planned project of diagnosis and treatment of hypertension, which is carried out under the auspices of the World League of Hypertension and the Swiss Society of Hypertension, in close collaboration with the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Italian Switzerland, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Zurich and Milan.

December 2020

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We are satisfied

with the work done...

Christmas and the New Year are just around the corner.

 


Mabawa wishes you

with all my heart serenity, health

and holidays full of hope ... even if different from usual

In October, a problem had arisen under the sports field due to torrential rainfall.

We found a solution that works: drainage channels with grates. When the work is completed we are satisfied with the result!

Sono state costruite le postazioni per l'igiene delle mani imposte dal Governo a causa dell'emergenza Covid-19.

October 2020

It's raining in Nyamyumba:

 

not only the rainy season but torrential rainfall. We are trying to secure the slope below the sports field where a waterfall flows from...

 

If you have any ideas please contact us!

 

They are working our specialists and we hope to find a quick solution.

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Dear friends, friends and supporters,

 

we thank you for a lovely evening on Thursday the 24th. We have updated the assembly page with Katrine's video presentation and the minutes of the evening at Bigatt. It really is an atmospheric and well organized place and if you weren't there and are curious go check out their website (click here)...

September 2020

Dear friends, friends and supporters,

 

we made it! Here is the information for the evening of September 24.

Don't forget to reserve by paying the 45 CHF! CCP 65-51867-3 or IBAN 0900 00000 6505 1867 3

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We were mentioned on

"Ticino farmer" of 22 May 2020

May 2020

Dear friends, friends and supporters,

 

we hope you all are as healthy as we are. The restrictions of recent times have not stopped our projects that continue with new ideas but considering the insecurity of the current situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and in order to avoid reaching the legal deadline of the AG timelines (September 30), the committee has decided to proceed with the approval of the AG meeting items for the year 2019 by postal vote.

 

We would still like to keep the date of September 24, if circumstances and government decisions permit, for a friendly meeting where we would show you as usual photographs of the important events of the year. So please reserve the following date:

 

September 24, 2020 at 6:15 pm

Ca' dal Bigatt via Carona 41 Lugano-Paradiso

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The construction of the new dental office is finished but with the lockdown that was very rigid (and useful) in Rwanda too, we have not yet been able to install the new chair.

 

The initial study, however too large, is thus dedicated to a multipurpose room

for the major consultations of the hypertension project and the epilepsy project, both active.

The silo-dryer works are now at the end ... the final phase is always the most problematic and so it is: the door is missing and an added height to the walls to ensure safety.

 

It is already in use, confirming the real need for this new structure.

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News came in about Covid-19 from Rwanda. The lockdown worked there too but after more than a month they had to reopen because they were starving.

The work in progress has therefore resumed and in Nyamyumba (as well as in rural Rwanda, fortunately) we have no signs of infection for now.

On the other hand, in Congo... tragedy in progress.

A flood of catastrophic proportions has left people dead and missing and several injured. This in the area of our beloved school of Bwegera: a part has been entirely destroyed but there is no precise news yet.

We do not yet know if and when reconstruction will be possible to consider.

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April 2020

We were getting worried about the situation in Rwanda regarding the coronavirus and official news has arrived.

 

So far it seems to be under control and that they are handling the situation well.

 

 

We'll post information about ongoing projects soon!

February - March 2020

Katrine is back from Nyamyumba and brings a lot of news. It has to be said, however, that climate change has come hard, Rwanda has been underwater with dead and injured and fortunately Nyamyumba was built well: both the terraces and the houses were not damaged.

A week after Katrine's arrival it stopped raining and it was possible to get back to work!

The sports field

Only the basket and the poles are missing to finish the project but the guys, as you can see, have not lost a minute to use it!

The library

Taking advantage of the space freed up in the former multi-purpose room, after the installation of the two computer classes, a library for students was installed.

We have a proposal for a supply of books from the non-profit organization Books for Africa.

 

 

We are looking for funds for the complete package, clicking on the link you can learn more.


At Mabawa will remain the burden of furnishing the spaces with tables, chairs, lighting for reading and some "basic" sofas.

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The laboratories of the scientific section

The first two workshops have been in use since the beginning of the school year (just over a month) and we are very impressed!

The scientific section has proved to be an important, valid and necessary idea.

 

In the video, a student summarizes the lesson to her classmates.

We thought she was the teacher because of how good she is!

The corn silo dryer

The project for the construction of the sile-dryer where to store the corn harvested to avoid the formation of mold has started: it is still a little bit missing but there is time until the harvest that will take place in April-May.

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An ...unexpected surprise

The Government has thought well of installing three Pygmies families on Kajagali Hill in line with "our" new houses.
The houses were built in "umuganda" (community work) but are of very poor quality. Work is urgently needed before the rainy season, which is expected to be alarming.

Health

 

The construction of the new hypertension clinic is underway, taking advantage of the size of the useless space of the former dental practice, which is moved to a smaller but sufficient room for the purpose.

 

Approved by the Rwandan National Ethics Committee and the Ministry of Public Health, the hypertension project has entered its implementation phase: 25 "auxiliaires de santé" are in the villages affiliated to the Nyamyumba dispensary (around 1,500 people).

 

Subsequently, according to the results, the subjects affected by hypertension will be taken in charge by the local nursing medical staff, with the supervision of the project managers.

The aim of the project is to train local medical and health personnel to effectively take care of hypertensive patients, avoiding the development of serious complications.

 

Training and first screening in the villages:

Munini

The reference hospital on which our medical dispensary depends is building its new headquarters, we visited the site and we share some images.

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