For Samuel, 34, trying to feed four children when you earn less than 50p per day is tough enough. Saving up for a health insurance card on top of that is even tougher. “The main concern becomes how to feed our children at least once a day.”
In the past, he has benefitted from a health insurance card, which costs just £3 for one year to cover the whole family. Although they could barely afford to buy one with their income, they were gifted one by Restoration Burundi, who are working in the community. Restoration Burundi has given over 5000 of these cards over the past year. A family could be anything from two to ten people – so it has a huge impact, meeting the immediate needs of people in extreme poverty.
As Simon Guillebaud recalls, ‘My pastor’s 18-year-old brother died in his arms for the lack of $3 to pay for the medicine across the counter in the chemist.’’ This sort of situation is unthinkable for many of us, but it’s heart-wrenchingly common in Burundi. That is why these health cards matter.
The card drastically reduces the cost of accessing healthcare and medicine – when Annonciatte’s daughter was sick, she took her for tests and treatment. The bill would have cost her over a month’s wages, but thanks to the health card she had been given, instead it cost only 15p / 20c! Annonciatte’s heart was full of gratitude.
For Samuel and his family, their card is approaching its expiration date, meaning they will not be covered. “When we see the card is about to expire, we feel upset.” Restoration Burundi longs to provide as many health cards as possible, but with the recurring annual fee, they can only buy so many.
Keeping people healthy is a foundation of Restoration Burundi’s strategic, long-term work, which includes agricultural training, lessons on finance and Biblical teaching. Restobu leader Gratien asks for prayers that they may have the funding required to serve the many needs of their communities.
Many of our partners give out health cards to families like Samuel’s, and they have already saved countless lives. If you’d like to support this work, you can donate to our health fund, from which we enable Partners to purchase Health Insurance cards, as well as supporting clinics, preventative healthcare, providing sanitary pads, and other vital healthcare initiatives for those in need.
