Projects
The focus of our projects is on supporting the healthcare and education systems in Gondar, Ethiopia. We support local medical institutions and provide children from the poorest backgrounds with access to a solid education. The school construction project was successfully completed, and the hospital project is currently running successfully without any involvement from the foundation. The foundation is therefore currently concentrating on the mobile eye clinic and the scholarship project.
Mobile Eye Clinic
The mobile eye clinic for outpatient cataract surgeries in remote areas around Gondar has been operated and managed by volunteers from the eye clinic at the University Hospital in Gondar since 2010. On average, 10 operations are carried out per year, performing 1,000 cataract surgeries. Soleil d'Afrique financed the surgical instruments and the vehicle for the mobile eye clinic. Coordination and training of the doctors for the trips and treatments are carried out by local doctors. This ensures needs-based cooperation with the local people. Due to the current tensions and unrest in the region, it has become increasingly difficult to have the eye clinic deployed regularly. The foundation is in contact with the local people. The goal is to have the mobile eye clinic deployed regularly again as soon as possible.
Hospital project COMPLETED
Julia Bucher, founder of the Soleil d'Afrique Foundation, initiated support for the hospital in Gondar, Ethiopia's fourth-largest city, in 1995. Thanks to personal contacts with doctors in Gondar, it was guaranteed that 100% of the medications and medical supplies would benefit the patients in need. The foundation regularly sent blood glucose strips, glucose sticks, and insulin to care for chronically ill patients or transferred funds to purchase insulin. The medical supply of these supplies and the financing on site have now been secured, thus completing the project.
School building project COMPLETED
The design for a suitable school building that could better meet the needs of the students in Gondar was drawn up jointly by Swiss and Ethiopian architects. Subsequently, the first of four school buildings was inaugurated in October 2004. All four buildings are now in use and have even been adopted by the Ethiopian government as models for the expansion of school buildings in Ethiopia. The construction of the school building was financed by the foundation. The school buildings have since been donated to the University of Gondar. The foundation's condition was that 16 places in each grade be reserved for children from low-income families. These children's school attendance is then financed by the foundation ( see scholarship project).
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