Ambulance boat sets off on its 75th tour! $$ Medical relief via waterways in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Congolese medical doctor Yoursen Bosolo has been traveling with his team to villages along the Congo, Ngiri and Ubangi rivers on the ambulance boat since 2011. The only possible way to reach even remote villages where otherwise neither medical staff nor medicine exists is by water.
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Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung (EKFS) has supported this project conducted by the Dortmund District of Evangelical Churches in Germany and the Congolese partner district of churches in Bolenge since 2019. Roughly six tours by boat are carried out per year. In a few days the festively decorated ambulance boat will be setting off on its 75th tour. Among the equipment stowed in the hold are two inflatable tents as combinable mobile treatment and surgical unit, an operating table and surgical lighting fixtures, as well as as an ultrasound imaging device and an ECG unit. What’s more, the team has medication along with them – for both treatments on board and for the health station outposts visited so that follow-up care for patients is ensured until the boat’s next arrival.

The team headed by Yoursen Bosolo performs educational work regarding hygiene and the prevention of Ebola, HIV and Covid-19. The medical personnel increasingly tends to women suffering from fistulas in the genital region following rape, miscarriages or poor medical treatment. They also stand by the women’s side in an advisory capacity, for example in the case of questions about contraception. 

In addition to the medical staff, the team includes two boatmen and a security guard to keep watch over the boat.  

Here you can find more information about the project.