In the News
Cell Phones Save Lives in Rwandan Villages
- 09 August 2010
MUSANZE, Rwanda — The Rwandan government is giving out hundreds of cell phones in an attempt to save pregnant women and babies.
Nearly 500 volunteer community health care workers in the rural district of Musanze have been given free phones so they can keep track of all the pregnant women in their villages.
The cell phones are used to register and monitor expecting mothers. If there are any questions, complications or updates, health workers simply send a text to their local clinic and receive a response within minutes.
A cell phone got 23-year-old Valentine Unwingabire the help she desperately needed. In the middle of the night Unwingabire unexpectedly went into labor and her village health worker, Germaine Uwera, knew exactly what to do.
Read more from CNN about this project that is supported by UNFPA and other agencies as part of the "Delivering as One UN" pilot.
