Dear Friends,
Greetings from Burundi!
As you are likely already aware, Kibuye Hope Hospital is now a 351-bed hospital that serves much of the interior of Burundi with primary and specialized medical services. As a campus of Hope Africa University, it also normally trains upwards of 50 medical students, 10 post-graduate intern physicians, and hosts of nursing and allied health students, who are now serving all over the country and the region. We are delighted to see how God is shining his light and proclaiming hope in His name through the work at Kibuye.
We are writing you to share an urgent need. Installation of a solar field in 2018 revolutionized patient care at Kibuye. But the growth of the hospital and the frequency of outages in the national grid have resulted in an urgent need to expand and renew our solar capacity in order to continue to provide our current level of services.
We have engaged International Technical Electrical and Construction (ITEC) to help us with this much-needed upgrade to our solar installation. They have recommended:
- Modernization of battery bank technology and an increase in storage capacity based on future needs.
- Increase in power production by installing more solar panel arrays.
ITEC is the group that planned, built and installed the current Power Pac which has served us so well since August of 2018. They have graciously agreed to source, build, and install the new batteries and the additional solar panel arrays, with hope for an installation in the fall of 2022.
The total solar upgrade cost is $753,000. $350,000 was supplied by a generous donation and African Mission Healthcare (AMH) has agreed to match that amount to make it $700,000. This will pay for the purchase and building of the major materials. The $53,000 that remains is only for the in-country costs of preparation and installation at Kibuye. AMH has agreed to match additional funds to help us reach that final goal.
Southwestern Medical Clinic Foundation is introducing a Matching Gift Program of up to $15,000 to partner with Kibuye Hope Hospital in order to complete this final stage of in-country installation for this crucial project.
This unique situation means that for any donation, SWMCF will match your gift, and additionally, that total will be matched by AMH, enabling your gift to be matched twice! (Donation Information Below)
Thank you for coming alongside to support us in this time of great need with the Solar Upgrade Project.
Yours faithfully,