Pneumonia: Maguy Dembo’s story

Maguy Dembo* 43 and daughter Dina*, 2, at home near the Centre de Sante et Maternite, Galilee, a health centre on the outskirts of Kinshasa, DRC.

Dina was identified by a community health worker as showing the potential synptoms of Pneumonia. She was taken to Galilee clinic and provided with medicine and she made a full recovery.

They live next to a tributary of the Congo river which is used as a quarry when the river is dry. The dust created from mining is a contributing factor to lung conditions.

Of Pneumonia in the area she says, 'Around the neighborhood, many children were dying of Pneumonia but we didn't know it was actually Pneumonia, we thought it was just coughing.'

Of Dina getting the treatment she needed she says, 'I was really relieved. At that time, I didn't have a lot of money to get to the big hospital, otherwise I would have spent a lot of money in the big hospital. I was relieved to go to a small clinic, where I could get treatment for free. I was relieved.