At the ‘Centre UZIMA- Life Centre’ in Kolwezi, in the south of the Congo, the Salvatorian Sisters help pregnant women, mothers and their newborns.

Two sisters, a social worker, a laboratory technician and some mothers work at the Centre Uzima.

Their aim is to provide the very best healthcare. Pregnant women receive counselling and support through check-ups, pregnancy education, birth preparation and aftercare. The pregnant women trust the sisters and benefit from psychological, moral, medical and spiritual counselling and support.

Twice a week there is pre-school counselling for mothers and infants and on Tuesdays vaccinations for children aged 0-5 months and on Wednesdays for children aged 9 months to 6 years. Babies and infants are also weighed regularly. In the event of illness, mothers and children at the Uzima centre also receive medical care and medication.

The desperate economic situation, the lack of work and income and the associated poverty are the cause of many illnesses as well as malnutrition and undernourishment.

Every day, up to 40 mothers, grandmothers and older siblings bring malnourished babies to the centre.
There, the little ones are given fortifying milk and a rich soya porridge. Given the large number of children who need regular food and medical care, but whose mothers can barely afford to pay, it is a challenge to cover the costs.The Uzima Centre offers women concrete help and strengthens their own initiative. The beneficiaries are children as well as their mothers and families.

For the Uzima Nutrition Centre we need medicines and laboratory reagents as well as soya, milk powder, millet and sugar. To cover the costs, including the salary for the laboratory staff and the social worker, we need an average of 900 euros per month. That is why we are looking for permanent partners!