Laboratory, delivery room, theatre room and radiology have been renovated and equipped to continue providing quality services to mothers and children.
A official ceremony was held in Chiulo yesterday to cut the ribbon and mark a new beginning for the Hospital, which now counts on renewed and more functional spaces thanks to the intervention carried out by CUAMM with the support of ANPG, Azule Energy and partners from Bloco 15/06 namely Sonangol and Sinopec, as part of the project “Supporting Chiulo Hospital and evaluating nutrition interventions in the south of Angola.”
Yesterday, June 25, we gathered at Chiulo Hospital for an official inauguration ceremony attended by His Excellency the Bishop of Ondjiva – Father Dom Pio Hipunyati, Father Alexandre – local head of the Chiulo mission, the Board of Chiulo Hospital, Matteo Villa – engineer at Solar Barrel together with local authorities including: the Municipal Administrator – Elizeth Kondjasili Mwamelungi, the Municipal Health Director of Ombadja – Epifânia Ndesiuda, the Municipal Administrator of Humbe – António dos Santos Luepo and the Provincial Director of the Health Department – Dr. Georgina Graciete Nunes,.
“This partnership comes at a good time, at a moment when our hospital is in need of a profound and complete rehabilitation of its physical infrastructure, in order to meet universal standards and offer quality services to its users. I am deeply grateful for the strength and the positive energy of this great gesture of solidarity and humanity. I wish to express a word of recognition to all the hospital’s staff and beneficiaries. In particular, the government of Cunene province is committed to continuing to fulfill its evangelizing and social mission with determination,” said His Most Reverend Excellency Dom Pio Hipunyati, the Bishop of Ondjiva.
The hospital’s laboratory, operating theatre, theatre room, and radiology unit have been renovated and newly equipped with instruments and materials essential for clinical activity. The intervention aimed at improving healthcare services and ensuring quality care for patients – primarily women and children.
“It has been 25 years since CUAMM began its activities at the Chiulo hospital. Today, I would like to express my gratitude to Azule Energy, ANPG, and all those who were involved in the completion of the works including the health authorities and the hospital staff. As CUAMM, we will continue with our commitment to work at the hospital as well as in the communities to care for the most vulnerable: mothers and children,” stated Joaquim Tomas – CUAMM Country Representative.
Chiulo is a rural hospital located in the heart of the Angolan mato, in Cunene province. The facility has 234 beds but, due to the scarcity of healthcare infrastructure in the province, its actual catchment area extends well beyond the limits of Humbe municipality. In this hospital, even access to running water and electricity is a challenge. Today, thanks to support from Solar Barrel, we inaugurated a new photovoltaic system that will allow the hospital to reduce energy costs and ensure a more sustainable power supply.
“Chiulo Hospital must continue to be a reference unit within our national health system. We are always grateful for the support received in ensuring quality services, although our desire is to keep improving so that this hospital becomes a true center of excellence,” declared Belarmino Felix – Head of the Public Health Department.
CUAMM’s commitment to supporting Chiulo Hospital has remained constant since 2000, the year we signed a memorandum of understandingt with the Diocese of Ondjiva. Since then, we have focused primarily on maternal and child health, first working within the hospital and later enforcing our efforts with community-based activities including mobile clinics and awareness-raising activities. Over the years, we’ve also invested in on-the-job training for local staff and in the upkeep of the maternity waiting home – a safe place for women nearing childbirth, established by CUAMM in 2012 and still operating today. Thanks to the collaboration with ANPG, Azule Energy and partners like Sonangol and Sinopec we are currently deliverying community-based activities focused on nutrition and hygiene and sanitation both in the provinces of Cunene and Namibe.
Twenty-five years since the beginning of our work in this small hospital located in the Angolan mato, we renew our commitment with enthusiasm to improving the health of mothers and children.
Today, as the conflict shows no signs of ending, on the contrary it becomes more intense in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the need to ensure access to care and assistance remains, as noted by Andrea Atzori, CUAMM Head of International Relations.
