Support for medics
We think that the support for Central African students – future doctors is the best method of helping the sick in poor area of Central Africa. We think that it is an important step to self-sufficiency and independence of the residents in the Central African Republic.
According to information from 2010 we see that in Central African Republic’s four million resident have only 200 doctors available. With respect to the complicated living situation in CAR and the length of the study, only 20 students complete medical school each year. There is only one medical school in the entire country. So, there are only 20 new doctors each year.
In 2008 SIRIRI decided to support two students of medicine in the form a scholarship – Cédric and Richard. Both of them had excellent study results, but came from poor families, which did not have the resources to support these students any further. It looked like they would have to take a break in their studies or more or less terminate them. This is why SIRIRI decided to support them and pay for their study expenses.
Since then, we have supported other medical students – such as Dr Solange Yimiki or Skeny Ngoumbana, who is currently finishing his medical studies. We are currently supporting a student of the Red Cross Medical School, Xavier Ndin-Da from Bozoum, who is going to become a nurse. From the 2024/2025 academic year, we will also support one student of the school from Bangui.
NEWS FROM STUDENTS WHO HAVE ALREADY COMPLETED THEIR STUDIES
1- Dr Cédric the nephrologist
In July 2015, Cédric defended his thesis and became a doctor. In 2022, he completed his specialization and became the first nephrologist (specialist in kidney treatment and dialysis) in the Central African Republic, where he immediately started to work at a brand new clinic at the main state hospital in Bangui. We follow his steps with enthusiasm and stay in live contact with him. Since 2022, we have been supporting acute treatment for the poorest patients of the hemodialysis clinic. As a result, 20 patients – mostly young people after severe malaria and young mothers after difficult childbirth – can live a normal life again.
2- Dr Solange in the neonatology unit
Dr Solange Yimiki completed her basic medical studies at the end of October 2023. After several internships during her studies, she joined a clinic for premature babies in Bangui, run by Doctors Without Borders.
3- Dr Richard specializes
Richard completed his basic medical studies in the academic year 2015/16. We haven’t heard much from him since. In 2024, we learned that he was currently doing a specialization in Senegal in the field of radiology (medical imaging). He will be the first specialist in the Central African Republic to be able to work with the latest equipment that the country has already applied for. This will make it possible to investigate, for example, sudden strokes and save the lives of people who have been dying unnecessarily until now due to lack of timely care.
This project was an inspiration for us to further support college students from other fields – discover more here.