RAISE Projects

Radio Kasongo: Waves Penetrate Where Health Systems Cannot - "Why did I rush my sister to the clinic after she was raped? Because we heard on the radio that we must be there within 72 hours," said the young woman from Kasongo District in eastern DRC. Read more »

Women in Kasongo District come for care after hearing a radio announcement from Uzazi Bora

The Uzazi Bora ("healthy birth") project uses radio to reach rural parts of Kasongo District in eastern DRC where roads and telephone lines often do not penetrate. Through the local community radio station, Sauti ya Mukahaji, Uzazi Bora educates the community in French and the local language, Kiswahili, about reproductive health.

One of the spots, which featured Kasongo women speaking about how HIV is passed, has reached an estimated 5,000 people. Other topics include sexual violence and family planning.

Direct from Kasongo: "When I heard it on the radio..."

"I began to plan the size of my family and wait two-and-a-half years between my pregnancies." - Biza

"We finally used condoms. We did not use them before because we didn’t understand their importance." - Ibrahim

"I began to attend the health centre earlier in my pregnancy. Before, I only went once I started to have contractions." - Tshitala

"We no longer conceive immediately after a miscarriage, but rather we wait another year until conceiving again – doing this we are finally free from fistula." - Machozi

[close]

Uzazi Bora, a joint project of RAISE and CARE, means "healthy birth" in Swahili, a common language spoken in eastern DRC. Healthy births are just one part of the Uzazi Bora project’s greater goal: Helping the people in Kasongo District in eastern DRC to restore desperately needed access to quality reproductive health care.

On the ground

For more than a decade, DRC's people have suffered through civil war, economic and health system collapse, and widespread displacement. Access to health care, particularly reproductive health (RH) care, has been severely compromised.

Intense fighting engulfed Kasongo from 2000 to 2003, destroying hospitals, clinics, and other health infrastructure, leaving thousands of people with no way to get help for rape, complications during childbirth, family planning, and more.

How RAISE is helping

Since 2006, Uzazi Bora has been working with the DRC Ministry of Health and surrounding communities to rebuild the health care infrastructure and the capacity of health centres to offer high quality RH services. The project operates in 22 health facilities and provides training, supervision, supplies, advocacy, and community outreach.

Uzazi Bora provides sustainable access to:

Comprehensive emergency obstetric care

To help prevent women and girls from dying needlessly during pregnancy and childbirth, Uzazi Bora is making emergency obstetric care (EmOC) a standard part of RH services at four sites.

The project is renovating health facilities and outfitting them with medical supplies and equipment for EmOC. With help from the RAISE Training Centre, Uzazi Bora trains and supervises health workers in post-abortion care and in fundamental EmOC, such as preventing infection and performing Caesarean sections. Uzazi Bora staff also educate the Kasongo community to recognise signs of danger during pregnancy and delivery.

A wide range of family planning options

Uzazi Bora ensures that clients can choose from a comprehensive selection of family planning options, from short-term methods such as birth control pills to long-term alternatives like the IUD. Community education and outreach, including classes, radio announcements, and theatre performances, inform Kasongo residents about family planning and available RH services.

Prevention and care for sexually transmitted infections

Uzazi Bora supports comprehensive prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS at all 22 facilities. Health facilities are equipped to provide EmOC and staff are trained and supervised to prevent mothers from passing HIV to their newborns during birth. Uzazi Bora also educates the community about HIV/AIDS via local radio announcements and school visits.

Help for survivors of sexual violence

Sexual violence, widely employed as a tactic of warfare in the DRC, has severely affected the women and girls in Kasongo District. To ensure these women and girls have access to care, Uzazi Bora has strengthened partnerships with the Ministry of Health, Kasongo Hospital, local and international non-governmental organisations, and religious and civil societies.

The project trains health workers in the 22 health facilities to provide medical care and counselling for survivors. It also refers survivors to organisations that specifically address psychosocial support.

Other initiatives

Uzazi Bora is also forming a community health insurance system and advocating for sustainable access to comprehensive RH at local and national levels.

Country Context

DRC has the third largest population in Africa with ~57 million people.
Average life expectancy is only 49 years.
45,000 people have died from war-related causes every month since 1998.
Maternal mortality is 45% higher in the war-torn east than the peaceful west.
Serious beatings, rape, and genital mutilation are routine strategies of war.

RAISE Partner

CARE is a leading humanitarian organisation that fights global poverty, seeking to work alongside poor women who have the power to lift their families and communities out of poverty. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war and natural disasters and works with them to help rebuild their lives. (careinternational.org)