Every Minute Matters
Imagine being over 75 years old, living with diabetes, high blood pressure, or a stroke, and suddenly becoming critically ill. Now imagine that the nearest health facility is several kilometers away, there is no ambulance available, your family cannot afford transportation, and the roads leading to your home are difficult to access. For many older persons in Burundi, this is not an isolated scenario—it is a daily reality.
Burundi Elderly Home Care (BEHC) was established to restore hope, health, and dignity to vulnerable older persons who have spent their lives building families, communities, and the nation. Through our outreach services, we encounter elderly men and women living alone, suffering from chronic illnesses, disabilities, malnutrition, and social isolation. While our dedicated team provides home visits, psychosocial support, healthcare referrals, and humanitarian assistance, one critical challenge continues to limit our ability to save lives: the absence of a dedicated ambulance for older persons.
To address this urgent need, BEHC has launched a fundraising campaign to acquire a fully equipped ambulance valued at USD 30,000, which will serve vulnerable older persons across Burundi.
Burundi: A Country Facing Significant Development Challenges
Burundi is among the world’s lowest-income countries. According to the United Nations, World Bank, and other international development agencies, the country continues to face persistent challenges including widespread poverty, food insecurity, limited healthcare resources, inadequate transport infrastructure, and high vulnerability to economic shocks.
The majority of Burundians depend on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods. Many families survive on very limited incomes, making it extremely difficult to meet the healthcare needs of elderly relatives, particularly when emergency transportation is required.
Older persons are among those most affected by these economic realities. After decades of contributing to their families and communities, many enter old age without pensions, health insurance, or reliable social protection. They often depend entirely on relatives who themselves face financial hardship.
The Growing Needs of Older Persons
Although Burundi has a relatively young population, improvements in healthcare have contributed to a gradual increase in life expectancy, resulting in a growing number of older persons requiring long-term care and support.
Many older adults live with:
- Hypertension
- Diabetes
- Arthritis
- Visual impairment
- Mobility challenges
- Stroke-related disabilities
- Respiratory diseases
- Malnutrition
- Mental health conditions associated with loneliness and isolation
These conditions require regular medical follow-up and, in many cases, urgent transportation to healthcare facilities. Unfortunately, transportation remains one of the greatest barriers to accessing timely treatment.
Healthcare Access Remains a Challenge
The United Nations and the World Health Organization have consistently emphasized that access to healthcare is essential for healthy aging. Yet for many elderly people in Burundi, reaching a hospital is a major obstacle.
Common barriers include:
- Long distances to healthcare facilities.
- High transportation costs.
- Limited availability of ambulances.
- Poor road conditions in many communities.
- Physical disabilities that make public transport inaccessible.
- Lack of family members available to accompany elderly patients.
For frail older persons, even short delays in reaching medical care can result in severe complications or death.
What BEHC Experiences During Community Outreach
Every outreach visit reinforces the urgent need for emergency transportation.
Our team regularly encounters elderly individuals who:
- Need immediate hospital referral.
- Are bedridden and unable to travel independently.
- Live completely alone.
- Miss medical appointments because they cannot afford transport.
- Experience medical emergencies without any means of reaching healthcare facilities.
These situations are heartbreaking because many are preventable. With appropriate transportation, lives could be saved, suffering reduced, and dignity preserved.
Why BEHC Needs a Dedicated Ambulance
An ambulance is more than a vehicle—it is a lifeline.
The proposed ambulance will enable BEHC to:
- Transport elderly patients during medical emergencies.
- Facilitate referrals to hospitals and specialized clinics.
- Support routine medical outreach activities.
- Reach vulnerable communities more efficiently.
- Reduce preventable illness and deaths.
- Improve continuity of care for older persons living with chronic diseases.
- Provide safe transportation for elderly people with mobility impairments.
This service would become one of the first community-based ambulance initiatives in Burundi dedicated specifically to older persons.
The Wider Community Impact
Although the ambulance is intended primarily for older persons, its impact will extend to entire families and communities.
By ensuring timely access to healthcare, the ambulance will:
- Reduce unnecessary suffering.
- Improve health outcomes.
- Support caregivers.
- Strengthen community resilience.
- Promote healthy aging.
- Encourage respect and dignity for older persons.
It will also strengthen collaboration between BEHC, healthcare facilities, local authorities, and humanitarian partners.
Our Long-Term Vision
The ambulance project forms part of BEHC’s broader vision to establish comprehensive elderly care services in Burundi.
Our long-term objectives include:
- Expanding community outreach nationwide.
- Developing home-based care programs.
- Establishing a dedicated elderly care center.
- Promoting healthy aging initiatives.
- Supporting research on aging and elderly welfare.
- Advocating for stronger policies protecting the rights of older persons.
- Building partnerships with national and international institutions.
The ambulance will serve as a cornerstone of this vision, enabling BEHC to respond more effectively to the needs of vulnerable older persons.
A Call to Partners, Donors, and Friends
We cannot achieve this mission alone.
We invite:
- Individuals
- Philanthropists
- Foundations
- Corporate partners
- Embassies
- Faith-based organizations
- Rotary and Lions Clubs
- Universities and researchers
- International NGOs
- United Nations agencies
- Development partners
to join us in making this project a reality.
A contribution toward this ambulance is not simply funding a vehicle—it is investing in life-saving healthcare, dignity, and hope for older persons who deserve to age with respect and compassion.
Together, We Can Save Lives
Every older person deserves timely access to healthcare, regardless of income, physical ability, or place of residence.
At Burundi Elderly Home Care, we believe that no elder should suffer or lose their life because transportation was unavailable.
With your support, we can place a fully equipped ambulance on the road—bringing emergency medical care closer to those who need it most.
Together, we can restore hope.
Together, we can protect dignity.
Together, we can save lives.
Support the BEHC Ambulance Project
Target Amount: USD 30,000
Burundi Elderly Home Care (BEHC)
Registration No. 530/1030
📧 founder@burundielderlyhomecare.org
📧 behc2025@gmail.com
📞 +257 67 55 55 50
📞 +257 76 18 90 41
🌐 https://burundielderlyhomecare.org