Started on 1 January 2021, the Project to set up a nursing school: vocational training courses to improve health conditions in the Central African Republic, is financed by the Italian Episcopal Conference(CEI).

Following on-site inspections carried out in previous years by Salute e Sviluppo, the subprefecture of Bossemptélé was identified as a suitable area for the project. 300 km from the capital Bangui, in one of the poorest areas of the Central African Republic. The population is extremely poor, with mud and straw dwellings, impassable roads in the rainy season and no electricity or telephone network.

Health has serious shortcomings: despite the lack of infrastructure adequate and capillaries in the territory, we note the almost complete absence of qualified and adequately trained figures in both the technical and nursing field. Higher and vocational education systems have significant limitations which prevent existing structures from responding adequately to the demand for staff.

The expansion of the John Paul II Hospital, owned by the Camillian delegation in RCA, is already underway in Bossemptélé: a project carried out to implement the development of the territory, to improve the health conditions of the population and to ensure that all the population has access to the necessary care. Linked to this project is the realization of the nursing school.

In concrete terms: the construction of the structure that will house the courses, the fence and the well is already underway; later we will proceed with the purchase of furniture, computers and other technological material that can make certified and nationally recognised this course of studies, including field placements in John Paul II Hospital. The primary objective is respond to the needs of local populations that need more nursing staff, and secondary objective is promote the social inclusion and economic integration of young students.

The direct beneficiaries of the activities proposed in this project will be 40 young people in the two years of training, 25 institutional agents of community health and about 300 students of the final secondary schools; while indirectly benefiting from the project about 24,500 people from the communities. The teaching staff, which will be responsible for teaching multiple subjects, is composed of local professors: doctors and nurses present in the Sub-prefecture and in the region.

Through a continuous training action, the aim is to contribute to the educational development oriented towards the reintegration and qualification of the workforce in the health sector, so as to “improve the quality of health services in the Ouham-Pendé region” the primary mission of the project. Moreover, the synergy between this project anche the Paul II Youth Hospital, will guarantee high standards of infrastructure and will make the project well rooted in the territory.

In just one year, considerable progress has been made, the infrastructure is beginning to take shape and the first works have been completed. In the next year we aim to improve: finishing all the facilities and making the school operational. We will keep you updated on all the small and large goals that we will achieve!