german
frenchDIÉBOUGOU
Eye centre and centre for handicapped people
As early as 2001 till 2003, the diocese of Diébougou, supported by funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, was responsible for the establishment of an eye centre to serve the very poor in the south of Burkina Faso. This eye centre, PRAH, was created to form an integral part of a bigger institution for handicapped people in general which was run by a female member of a religious order and a priest.
Today, PRAH ( Projet de Réhabilitation des Aveugles et autres Handicapés, Rehabilitation Project for the Blind and other Handicapped People ) boasts up-to-date equipment and offers the following facilities: surgeries inclusive of operating theatres, sterilisation facilities, its own water supply, a laundry, sanitary installations, wards, living quarters for visiting doctors, an optical workshop, physical therapy facilities, a seminar room, an office building, and an ambulance to serve in the surrounding villages.
A further core area of africa action activities has been the training of local personel and will continue to be so. Since 2007 African doctors also do operations here. For the first six years before there were German doctors who came to Diébougou to do short stints of operating duty, first and foremeost Dr Ulrich Schum from Munich who did great poineer work there.
Next steps to be taken:
The eye center is up and running. However, to be fully independent, it still needs a generous amount of outside support, because of the extreme poverty of the people living in the area. A contract providing outside support has been renewed till to 2010.
contact
Werner (Joseph) Bardenhewer, Helmholtzstr. 50, D 65199 Wiesbaden.
Tel. and Fax: 0611 - 946 546 4; E-mail: b (at) arbc.de
Stand: 01/08
Kennwort: Sahel