A healthy community is a happy community. Since July 2023, Enabel has been working with communities in the Rwenzori region to promote Saving for Health, an innovative initiative designed to help communities take control of their health expenses. Enabel distributed 58 modern stretchers to 21 community groups in Ntoroko (Nombe Sub-county), Kasese (Bugoye Sub-county) and Bundibugyo’s Ngamba Subcounty. This intervention is part of our Decent Work and Social Protection project, and one of the hopes is to make an impact on how health services are accessed in hard-to-reach areas. 

“When we first introduced the Saving for Health initiative, many people in the region were skeptical. The idea of saving specifically for health was new, and some were hesitant, unsure of how it would work or whether their contributions would be safe. There were concerns that this was just another program that would take away their money without any real benefit. But through extensive sensitization and community awareness campaigns, we worked alongside local leaders and ambassadors to shift mindsets, educating people about the importance of saving for their health and assuring them that the savings were secure and would directly benefit their well-being,” recalls Sharon Kensita, the Sector Expert, Social Protection. 

Since then, 300 Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) across Rwenzori region have embraced this model, collectively saving over UGX 305 million as of September 2024. These funds are placed into the Saving for Health Bottle Fund at group level, which allows families to access money when they need it most, whether it is for a hospital visit or emergency treatment. During Enabel’s work with the groups and the ambassadors for Saving for Health, it was brought to Enabel’s attention that some communities were finding it hard to reach the health facilities using the motorcycle and automobile transport. This was when the idea of distributing modern stretchers to the communities through the saving groups came to life.  

In areas like Ngamba Subcounty, many people live on remote hillsides, where roads are either impassable or non-existent. For these communities, transporting the sick to health facilities has been a daunting challenge. In the past, people resorted to makeshift stretchers made of stick and bedsheet to carry patients down treacherous hillsides and to carry the deceased from hospitals back home. This method was not only difficult but also unsafe and often, many got accidents as they carried or were being carried to the health facilities, as Dr George Gizamba, the incharge at Kikyo Health Centre IV notes. 

Recognizing this urgent need, Enabel acted among the saving groups, distributing 58 modern stretchers to 21 groups and health facilities in Bundibugyo, Kasese and Ntoroko. Local leaders and healthcare workers were particularly excited about the positive impact this would have on maternal and child health. In areas where transportation was a major barrier, pregnant women and children suffering from severe illness would now have a safer, more efficient way to reach health facilities for medical attention. “These stretchers are user-friendly and do not use fuel, we are hopeful that transportation of patients will be more reliable and our health indicators especially maternal indicators will improve,” said Musoki Owen, a representative from the Chief Administrative Officer’s, Bundibugyo district.  

Godfrey Bagonza, Assistant District Health Officer of Bundibugyo also recalled the devastating loss of lives in the mountains due to fear of the difficulty to move down to health facilities. “We believe that now the death rate is going to lower,” he said. 

Leaders in the savings groups, like Mumbere Eria, Chairman Kikyo 2 Savings Group and Bwambale Kalimiri, Secretary Ngamba United Caterers Association expressed their gratitude and are confident that actions such as these will encourage community members to prioritize health.