Partners In Health Rwanda, known locally as Inshuti Mu Buzima (IMB), helps families thrive through its Pediatric Development Clinic (PDC) program. This is Valentine’s story. It shows what is possible when people living in poverty get the care and support they deserve.
Valentine Mukandebe 36 a mother raising four kids, first met Partners In Health just after she gave birth to her youngest child. The baby went to the neonatal care unit at Kirehe hospital because of health complications. The child was diagnosed with a disability, and he needed frequent hospital visits. Valentine often traveled long distances. She remembers one time when she had to spend the night near the hospital. The emotional strain, financial pressure, and time away from home weighed heavily on her family.
At home, things got worse. “My husband started blaming me. He said his family couldn’t have a child like that,” she says. Their relationship became violent. After one severe incident that left her injured and with a hand that does not work well, Valentine’s separated with the husband.
During that time, Valentine faced overwhelming uncertainty. She could no longer work like before because of her hand injury. She had already spent all her money going to the hospital many times to seek care for her son and could not work properly. But after the incident, she reached her lowest point. “I would sit and wonder how my life would turn out wondering how I will provide for food when I have injuries and a child with a disability.
After the abuse, PIH staff kept visiting her at home. They gave her counseling and emotional support. Later, they helped her start a small business. “I accepted the disability of my child and I started seeing my child like any other”
Through the Pediatric Development Clinic, her child started getting regular care, including medicine for his eyes and physiotherapy. “He couldn’t see, but now he can see a little. He couldn’t walk, but now he can walk,” she says of his child who is three years old today.
“I thank PIH for helping me,” Valentine says. “They played a big role in ending my problems. Before, I thought my life was over, but now I see my child like any other child. My life is good.”
PIH also helped Valentine start a small business where she make and sell a local beverage. Today, Valentine is building her own house from the money she got from that business.
Since 2014, Partners In Health has carried out the PDC program in three districts across Rwanda. The program offers structured medical, nutritional, and developmental care to high-risk children from birth to five years old. Trained nurses and social workers provide services through public clinics. Specialists like pediatricians, Occupational Therapist and ENT specialist, neurologists, ophthalmologists, and physiotherapists support care based on each child’s needs.
The program also offers psychosocial support, health education, parenting guidance, and transport assistance for families facing financial hardship. It aims not only to treat the child but also to improve the wellbeing of the whole family.
