Building Project

The existing operating theatre in Beni runs from a house down a bumpy road from the hospital wards. As such it struggles to cope with the number of patients who require treatment and is far from ideal in terms of its location. In November 2006, Friends of CME Trust began an appeal to raise money to construct a new hospital site for CME Beni, at nearby Sosé (about 3 miles from the centre of Beni). £25,000 needed to build the Operating Theatre was raised by the summer of 2007 and so we began with the next building, an Intensive Care Unit. This required an initial £25,000 but with the weakness of Sterling, this increased to £35,000! By the beginning of 2009 we had raised enough to fund this and the foundations had been laid. Over 2010, we raised the additional sum of £15,000 to fund a third building: a new Maternity Ward. This was virtually completed by Feb 2011 (click here to see the images). CME plans to move to the new site in June 2011 assuming the remaining funds (about £20,000) can be found to make the site useable as their new hospital.

If you would like to donate towards this, please contact us.

September 2011 - Maternity construction

Here are the latest photos of the construction of the new maternity building at Sosé, taken mid-Sept.

Two of these photos show the makeshift external toilet and shower cubicles (wooden shacks). Clearly, there is a need for adequate facilities to be constructed on the new site in due course.

February 2011 - Construction at Beni/Sosé

We have now sent a total of £75,000 to CME, which has virtually completed the three buildings needed as the base for the hospital to move. CME has set a date of 1st June 2011 for the move. This will be a fantastic achievement with the operating theatre, intensive care unit and maternity ward being purpose built. It will also free up monies currently used on renting 3 properties in the town of Beni. However, the move poses challenges since the site is 5km out of town. Transportation will be an issue, as will a reliable drinking water supply, an adequate sewerage system and some housing for doctors/nurses who will need to be on call for patient care and to provide security. CME still needs to find about £20,000 to meet these additional needs. So if you would like to and are able to help, please contact us!

February 2011 - Construction at Beni/Sosé

October 2010: Maternity Ward Building

Work is well underway on the third of the new Hospital buildings at Sose, outside Beni - the Maternity Ward (see photos on the right). Sadly the price of cement has recently increased drastically, meaning further funds are required to finish the work (£15,000 remains outstanding). While electricity will be coming from a generator, a reliable mains water supply and rain water collection system are still being sought.

May 2010: Hospital Site Rebuilding

CME has continued to rebuild its 3 hospital sites.

In Nyankunde Samaritans Purse are helping with the renovations.
In Bunia the maternity ward is under construction.
At Beni we have funded the construction of new operating theatre and intensive care buildings. We need another £15,000 to complete the maternity and then allow the re-location of the hospital.

In July, about 100 people are doing a Triathlon to raise money for the maternity. If you would like to sponsor this fundraiser, please get in touch. Thank you to those who have helped already with giving towards these buildings.

Summer 2009: Building the new Intensive Care Unit building

These photos show the construction of the new CME Intensive Care building. This is building number two for the new hospital site at Sose, near Beni. The photos include images of brick production, the foundations and a nearly completed building!

May 2008: Initial work building the new Operating Theatre in Beni

I am really pleased to be able to send you some photos of the initial work in building the operating room in Beni, DRC. The construction began at the beginning of December.

A fixed price construction contract has now been signed for $42,000 to build the room. Since our appeal has raised in excess of £25,000, we will be able to contribute to the costs of the second building - an Intensive Care Unit - which CME want to build to build alongside the operating room.

Thank you again for helping to raising the funds necessary. These pictures have certainly encouraged me and I hope you feel a sense of achievement and hope too for the people of north east DRC as we start 2008. There are still around 1,000 dying each day in this region mainly through lack of medical care as the continuing aftermath of the years of civil war.

May 2007: Beni Operating theatre

We want to help build an operating theatre in Beni on land that CME own. The building has been designed by CME and will replace the town house that they currently rent as a makeshift theatre. The design is for two main operating rooms and one for minor ops. There is a laundry, office, waiting room, two preparation rooms and a stock room. The total cost of the theatre will be £25,000. I am sure you will agree that this is a relatively small sum considering the immense value that the building will bring to the community. Since we launched the appeal, CME has obtained planning permission to build and we have received over £15,000 from a number of donors. Thank you so much to all of you who have helped raise this. The political situation has remained stable in north east DRC and so we have already sent the £15,000 to CME. However, we really don’t want them to start but not be able to complete the theatre. Would you be able to help or help more if you already have?

For more information about the operating theatre see: