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After attending the closing ceremonies of the project to strengthen the health clubs of 20 schools in Bujumbura Mairie, which took place on Saturday 26 February at the Lycée du Saint-Esprit, Ms. Pascalia SERGON, in charge of programs and capacity building at AJAN, accompanied by the coordinator of projects and programs at Service Yezu Mwiza, Alain Christy ININAHAZWE, sj, went on a field trip to GITAZA, on 1 March 2022, to see the activities of SYM mobile clinic.

On board the vehicle reserved for the mobile clinic, a medical team made up of a doctor, nurses, a laboratory technician, a health mediator and a person in charge of monitoring income-generating activities (IGAs), sets off each morning to one of the sites where it provides care to beneficiaries.

Mrs Pascalia SERGON speaking with beneficiaries in Gitaza

On arrival at the site, Ms. Pascalia was able to talk to the medical team of the mobile clinic, where she was able to understand how the mobile clinic works, and the various advantages it offers to beneficiaries over the surrounding health structures. In the exchange she had with the beneficiaries, they explained to her that in the other structures, they have to pay to see a doctor if there is one, because often in the CDS, there are only nurses, or to do biological examinations, while they do not have enough money. “In addition to free health care and psychosocial support, we were shown how to get out of poverty by working together with others through IGAs. In short, at SYM we feel at home," says one of the beneficiaries.

Home visit to beneficiaries grouped in IGAs in Gitaza

After this exchange with the mobile clinic team and the beneficiaries, the SYM projects and programmes coordinator invited her to make a home visit to see the beneficiaries that Service Yezu Mwiza supports through income-generating activities. The journey was long and perilous, under the scorching sun, but this did not prevent him from reaching his destination.

Ms Pascalia SERGON on her way for a home visit

As time did not allow her to visit several places, she went to see only two groups of beneficiaries who raise goats. Everywhere she went, those who started with two goats are now up to five or even six goats. The beneficiaries expressed their gratitude to SYM, “Thanks to Service Yezu Mwiza, we have the compost of goats to enrich the soil of our fields, which allows us to have a good crop. Since the beginning of the IGAs our daily life has totally changed, we manage to meet some of the primary needs of our families, which was a dream before”.

Pascalia SERGON visiting one of the groups of beneficiaries who raise small livestock

She was happy to see how SYM is changing people's lives by giving back dignity to those who had lost it: “When I spoke to the beneficiaries, I saw the joy and hope on their faces, and that's when I understood the impact of SYM's activities on the poorest people. In addition to the clinical care, the beneficiaries also have income-generating activities initiated by SYM, which allow them to support themselves, and this is for us a proof that these beneficiaries have something to boast about and SYM to be proud of. I encourage Service Yezu Mwiza to continue its mission to promote the integral health of the Burundian population and to stand by the vulnerable in particular”.