Residents of Nyaga area in Muranga county are appealing for help for the completion of a stalled Sh1.6 million perimeter wall at a local hospital.
The Nyaga PCEA Hospital was started in 2010 by the PCEA church and was completed on April 8, 2012 when the then Kiunyu parish moderator Irene Wangari laid the plaque.
However, the hospital is yet to become operational because the community has been unable to construct a perimeter wall to secure it.
Nyaga PCEA church development committee chairperson Francis Macharia said they started the hospital with the aim of lessening the suffering of the community.
Residents joined in and helped construct the hospital building to its completion.
Macharia said the committee then approached Kikuyu Mission Hospital for support. The hospital which is also sponsored by the PCEA church visited the facility twice for inspection and approved the building.
However, the hospital asked the community to establish a perimeter wall and ensure the facility had a consistent supply of clean water.
“Kikuyu Mission Hospital said lack of a perimeter wall would compromise the safety of the equipment that it would fit in the facility,” Macharia said.
He added that it was willing to deploy medical workers and equipment to the hospital.
Fatigued from the contributions they made to the construction of the building, the community was unable to construct the perimeter wall, grinding its dream of having a hospital to a halt.
It is only until recently that the development committee summoned residents for a fundraising drive to support the project.
With support from well wishers, the residents were able to raise Sh400,000 which is still a long way from the Sh1.6 million required for the wall.
Through the help of area MP Nduati Ngugi, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation last year established a communal borehole at Nyaga Primary School that will also serve the facility.
“When this facility is completed, so many people who have been struggling to access health care will be reprieved,” Macharia said.
Village elder Patrick Kamande said they are forced to use boda bodas to get to Kihumbu-ini dispensary, the nearest health facility to the village.
“There are no matatus that ply that route and the only other available facility is Kirwara hospital which requires one to connect two matatus,” he said.
Kamande added that many are forced to seek health services at Thika Level 5 Hospital in Kiambu county because of the availability of a direct route.
The village, he said, has been waiting a long time to have the hospital become operational.
He noted that seeking healthcare at night has been a nightmare for residents as there is no health facility nearby.
The hospital, he said, will drastically improve the quality of lives.
Peninah Muthoni said when she delivered her children, road infrastructure in the area was poor and she was forced to deliver at home.
This, she said, put her life and those of her children at risk because there were no available maternity services locally.
“We are glad that the government has upgraded roads now but the hospitals are still far off,” Muthoni said.
“As a community with meagre means, we have done what we could and now we are appealing for help,” she added.
Peter Ngure, a resident, said the hospital has a vast compound in case there is a need for expansion in the future.
He said he hopes the hospital will offer services such as dialysis and specialised treatment for chronic illnesses that are rampant in the area.
“This project will also help develop our area. We are asking professionals from this area to come out and support us as a way of giving back to the community,” Ngure said.
He said residents have suffered immensely when there was a spike in Covid-19 cases in the area.
The surge caused the county government to close down eateries and bars in neighbouring Njai-ini and Mukurwe villages early this month.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
