New Mother and Child Cli­nic Keren

In March 2012, the Eri­tre­an Minis­ter of Health hers­elf laid the foun­da­ti­on stone for the lar­ge mother and child cli­nic in Keren. The shell con­s­truc­tion inclu­ding the roofing was finan­ced and com­ple­ted by the Sta­te of Eritrea, while all tech­ni­cal instal­la­ti­ons of elec­tri­cal, plum­bing, water, solar, com­pres­sed air and oxy­gen sys­tems as well as the emer­gen­cy gene­ra­tor, along with the equip­ment of high-qua­li­ty medi­cal tech­no­lo­gy and fur­ni­tu­re, were pro­vi­ded by ARCHEMED. Num­e­rous vol­un­teer craft­smen and tech­ni­ci­ans, doc­tors, nur­ses and mid­wi­ves, as well as our logi­stics staff in Ger­ma­ny, com­ple­ted the cli­nic in dozens of deploy­ments. Appro­xi­m­ate­ly 36,000 vol­un­teer work hours went into the ambi­tious con­s­truc­tion pro­ject. The­re were repea­ted con­s­truc­tion delays along the way—not least the COVID-19 pan­de­mic brought the con­s­truc­tion site to a standstill for more than two years. But in the end, all efforts were wort­hwhile: On Decem­ber 1, 2022, we were able to cere­mo­ni­al­ly open the peri­na­tal cen­ter tog­e­ther with the Eri­tre­an Minis­ter of Health, local and natio­nal offi­ci­als, Eri­tre­an tele­vi­si­on, and our ambassa­dor Sen­ta Ber­ger, and hand it over to the Eri­tre­ans.

Hand in hand with the Eri­tre­an con­s­truc­tion workers, a beau­tiful and high­ly modern cli­nic has been crea­ted in Keren, whe­re more than 3,000 women can safe­ly give birth each year and whe­re new­borns, espe­ci­al­ly pre­ma­tu­re and sick infants, recei­ve imme­dia­te pro­fes­sio­nal care. Up to 10 mothers can wait for the birth of their child­ren in a lar­ge labor room under the super­vi­si­on of mid­wi­ves and birth atten­dants. Direct­ly adja­cent is the spa­cious deli­very room with two deli­very beds and a ces­are­an sec­tion ope­ra­ting room. Imme­dia­te­ly next to the mate­r­ni­ty ward is the neo­na­tal inten­si­ve care unit—this wall-to-wall solu­ti­on ensu­res extre­me­ly rapid medi­cal care for cri­ti­cal­ly ill new­borns or pre­ma­tu­re babies when nee­ded. In ano­ther room, sick infants coming from out­side can also be trea­ted. In total, the cli­nic offers space for 45 pregnant women and mothers with their child­ren as well as 30 tre­at­ment places for pre­ma­tu­re and new­born babies.

But not only the women bene­fit from this spa­ti­al reor­ga­niza­ti­on and the prin­ci­ple of short distances—the Eri­tre­an medi­cal staff do as well. The doc­tors, nur­ses, and care­gi­vers are young and high­ly moti­va­ted to learn the new pro­ce­du­res and pos­si­bi­li­ties.

We are very plea­sed that ARCHEMED, through the plan­ning and equip­ping of the cli­nic, can con­tri­bu­te to redu­cing mate­r­nal and child mor­ta­li­ty in one of the rural regi­ons of Eritrea. Our thanks go to all vol­un­teer hel­pers, the num­e­rous com­pa­nies, insti­tu­ti­ons, and orga­niza­ti­ons who­se sub­stan­ti­al finan­cial com­mit­ment made this enorm­ous con­s­truc­tion pro­ject pos­si­ble in the first place.