The Light of Hope in Kablewa: Solar Panels Improve Health Services Access

Due to armed conflict and ongoing incursions by non-state armed groups, the Lake Chad Basin area crisis has displaced millions of people in Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, and Niger. As a result, since 2013, the Diffa region in southeastern Niger has experienced significant population displacements, and the crisis impacts communities' social, political, and economic conditions. 

In the Diffa region, many displaced persons have found refuge in the commune of Kablewa. This situation has led to inadequate access to basic services, including health services, to both host communities and displaced populations from the commune.   

To improve access to health services for host communities and displaced populations, in coordination and upon request of the Department of Health in Diffa, the Niger Community Cohesion Initiative NCCI supported the rehabilitation of the solar system of the commune's integrated health centre in 2021. The programme also donated equipment to increase the centre's capacity. Medical equipment and materials such as mattresses, electric blood pressure monitors, glucometers and thermometers, metal benches, and baby scales were donated to the health services. In addition, COVID-19 prevention materials were also provided.

Kader, a nurse with eleven years experience, oversees the integrated health centre of Kablewa. He is married and has two wives and six children. He joined the centre two months ago.

"I chose to be a nurse because it was my vocation. I wanted to help my community and contribute to improving the health care system of the area," he says.

"In the past, we had no electricity because Boko Haram cut it off. They ransacked the electricity systems of the city. Without light and proper equipment, we couldn't work," he explains. "When a patient comes to you, but you don't have the means to help him, you feel sad and despaired because you are in front of someone for whom you cannot do anything," he adds.

"This donation came as a great relief because this equipment are usually found in large health centres, not smaller ones. When a patient needed to measure his blood sugar level, he had to go to a bigger health centre in N'Guigmi, 67.5 kilometres away. Now, we can do it here at the centre because we have these devices," explains Kader.

"There are more patients now because they know that there is medical care that was not available before. We even get patients from neighbouring communities," he adds.

"Forty-eight hours after installing the panels, we admitted a ten-month-old child who was in respiratory distress. He had severe pneumonia. We could not evacuate him when he was admitted because it was dark, and vehicles could not move except under military escort. We were able to use an oxygen concentrator, that we would not have been able to use without electricity, to save his life. The population has already seen the impact of this donation on the health system in Kablewa," Kader concludes.

The NCCI implements its activities in conflict-hit regions, including Tillaberi, Tahoua, Maradi, and Diffa, to ensure that vulnerable communities have more trust in local government authorities and state structures. The programme also aims at improving communities' resilience and cohesion to resist and address conflict, insecurity, and violent extremist threats.