Ouadaradouo, Burkina Faso

The Ouadaradouo region in the West African nation of Burkina Faso is one of the poorest areas in an extremely destitute country. Near the borders of both Ghana and the Ivory Coast, this remote area is rife with malaria, gastrointestinal infections, and respiratory ailments, and other life-threatening diseases. In March 2009, The Denan Project set up the first free medical clinic in the area. Since then we have treated more than 40,000 patients, providing quality medical care to many who had never before been seen by a doctor or nurse. We initiated our first micro-loan program in December of 2014. We also have begun an educational program, furnishing school supplies to the primary school. In terms of agricultural and nutrition outreach, plans are underway to provide one hot meal a day to hungry children during the famine-stricken dry season.

▸ MEDICAL PROJECTS
▸ EDUCATION & FOOD PROJECTS
▸ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
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Medical Projects in Denan

When it first opened in 2004, The Denan Project’s small clinic had a doctor and three volunteers. Since then, hard work by our volunteers, generous gifts from donors, and a bit of good luck have turned the clinic into a 29-room hospital, fully staffed with an exceptionally dedicated team of nearly 40 people who run the hospital and its related operations, including a pharmacy, ultrasound equipment, and a laboratory capable of carrying out a battery of sophisticated tests.

Over the past few years, we have been able to buy an ambulance to pick patients up from outlying areas or to take desperately sick people to a larger hospital 50 miles away. We have programs in vaccination, prenatal and well baby care, polio eradication, supplemental and emergency feeding, and inpatient and outpatient T.B. treatment. We also support a program to eradicate female genital mutilation. In 2015, our clinic was chosen by the Federal Ministry of Health and the Health Bureau of the Somali Regional State as the site for the creation of a 10-room operating theater complex. The new operating theater, which is due to be completed in 2016, will allow us to offer a wider range of services to our patients, and will eliminate the need to take patients to a larger hospital for more complicated procedures.

Addressing the needs of the community, we also run many programs to promote overall health, including education courses on sanitation, HIV/AIDS, breast feeding, waterborne diseases, the importance of giving birth in a hospital rather than at home, the proper use of medicines, and anti-malaria measures. As of June 2016, the Denan Hospital has treated more than 240,000 people for a wide range of illnesses and injuries. The care is all for free, and has saved many lives.

Education & Food Projects in Ouadaradouo

In 2015 a program was established to send notebooks, pens, and other basic school supplies to the village primary school, which was in great need. The school, which currently has only three grades, with ages ranging from 6-13 years old, has approximately 160 children in a building with little school furniture and no electricity and plumbing.

In the spring of 2016, we established a program that for food to be served at the school for the many students who suffer from malnourishment during the height of the famine-stricken dry season. From the end of September to the middle of July, there is essentially no rain in the Sahel country of Burkina Faso. Consequently, by April, food is very scarce and many children stop attending school. As a result of this program, which provides one hot meal per day, we have already seen much improved school attendance.

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Economic Development in Ouadaradouo

The Denan Project’s first micro-loan program was begun in in December of 2014, in which 10 village women were collectively given a loan of $1,500 to entrepreneurially develop and re-sell goods in the local market. The initial loan was paid back three months early. Subsequently, we doubled the loan, and the number of participants in the cooperative group, which sells fruits and nuts, doubled as well.

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