Running4Rwanda

The welfare of mothers and children is at the heart of the Millennium Development Goals. And mothers and children are at the heart of the projects Shyira Trust supports. Our first project, in 2001, was the rebuilding of the maternity hospital, providing safe motherhood and supporting maternal health in the area around Shyira. But a maternity hospital without midwives is not much good, so we supported the training of a local nurse to become a midwife. That nurse, Robinah, qualified in 2009, and since then, there have been no maternal deaths in Shyira – over 3 years without a death in a country with one of the poorest maternal health records in the world – truly a remarkable achievement. We have subsequently funded the training of a second midwife, Fidele, who qualified in 2011. Both are working in Shyira, supporting each other, but more importantly supporting the women around Shyira. With our help, they continue to improve standards of maternal health in Rwanda, providing safe mot