We’re in Rwanda at the moment for a few months and we were privileged to accompany a local palliative care charity that is 90% funded by Doctors Worldwide on their community rounds. We’ve been given permission by the patients to share stories and photos of cases to increase awareness of the amazing work the charity is doing in Rwanda.

The charity has been going for 10 years but was initially completely volunteer itself led. Some years ago with Doctors Worldwide’s  support they were able to afford a full time office manager, nurse, social worker, and Islamic scholar who helps with pastoral and spiritual support

We met Paul who has metastatic breast cancer. Paul lived in rural Rwanda, many hours away from the cancer centre. He left his wife and three children and moved to Kigali for palliative chemotherapy and lived by himself until the charity heard about him. They paid for his family to relocate to Kigali, they pay the rent, the family health insurance, school fees for the children and provide a monthly food supply. The nurses attend to his wound and have transformed what was an infected, suppurative chest tumour to one that is dry and well managed. The charity will also provide a bereavement package and pay for expenses when the need arises. Paul said of Doctors Worldwide “they are like angels. I could never have imagined my family could live with me and be supported in every way”

We met Anne a tetraplegic patient who sustained a traumatic injury four years ago. The charity supports her by providing free regular nursing care, monthly medications, a continuous supply of adult diapers, and a television. They help her mental well-being by providing a feee psychologist and by linking her to individuals from her old job so she feel she still has something to offer society. She says she has only words of thank for Doctors Worldwide.

We made an emergency visit to this address to see an 88 year old patient with metastatic prostate cancer who is usually seen on a regular basis by the team nurses who provide excellent wound care for open scrotal wounds. The patient had become confused and pulled out his suprapubic catheter. The team made an assessment that he would need to be transferred to hospital by ambulance for reinsertion of the SPC. They arranged and paid for an ambulance to transfer the patient for his procedure.