The examination room of Inhaca's hospital

Inhaca Donors: Swiss Cooperation and DMR Cost: $500,000

     The island of Inhaca lies across the bay from the capital city of Maputo. There are two ways to reach the island: by boat or by airplane. Most of the boats making the journey are small, and their service to Maputo is irregular and expensive. For the almost 4,000 inhabitants of Inhaca island, this isolation causes difficulties. One of the primary difficulties of living on the island was the lack of medical services. Previously, if a person got sick, they had to find a boat crossing the bay, which could be financially difficult or require waiting. Moreover, having arrived in Maputo, the ill person must make their way to a clinic. It was an intimidating and sometimes impossible process.
     In response to this need, the Presbyterian Church of Mozambique, working with Swiss donors, built a hospital on Inhaca Island. The facility offers extensive services to the community. There is a busy pharmacy, several examination rooms, observation rooms, and a dental clinic. There is even a maternity ward, which assists with roughly one birth a week.
     Due to its isolation, the hospital also requires other support. A diesel generator supplies the hospital with a reliable source of power. There is also a speed boat, the Mavalane, to transport medical personnel and equipment from the managing hospital Mavalane, on the mainland across the bay to Inhaca Island.

Pharmacists busy at the pharmacy at the facility