On May 25, Africa Day is commemorated, in memory of the creation in 1963 of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Ethiopia with the aim of defending and emancipating the African continent. In 2002, the OAU was replaced by the African Union, but the celebration of the date remains.

Africa, the second most populated continent in the world, is a region rich in culture that is advancing to have a more promising future and with greater well-being for its population. But it is also the continent to which a large part of the undernourished population belongs and where the greatest social problems of today are presented, due to climate change, epidemics, poverty and political instability.

Sisters Hospitallers is currently present in ten African countries. Solidarity and development cooperation are a key tool to help the region face the enormous challenges that lie ahead.

Solidarity and development cooperation

Through the work carried out by the Congregation of Hospitaller Sisters in Africa and in many other parts of the world, we support communities that have difficulties and are inserted in a context marked by an imbalance in the distribution of resources and opportunities worldwide. with the purpose of promoting Human Rights and the fight against economic and social difficulties, guaranteeing an impact on the improvement of people’s living conditions in a sustainable and lasting way.

Numerous projects have been carried out in the different countries of Africa. The construction of the Mental Health Center in Kintambo (RDC), thanks to which it will be possible to meet the growing demand in the area, under a community model that seeks to guarantee the right to health and promote socio-family reintegration, also encouraging the employability of people with workshops and activities so that they can develop a source of income.

Currently, a new Mental Health Center is also being built in Dapaong Togo, in order to provide quality care, and become a reference center in the area. In Mozambique, thanks to Spanish Cooperation, the Centro de Reabilitação Psicossocial das Mahotas has been reinforced so that it can continue to offer quality care and in safe conditions in times of the Covid-19 pandemic. And the list goes on, because solidarity, cooperation and joint work allow mental health to be offered in a continent where many deficiencies in this area have been detected, both for budgetary reasons and because of a strong stigmatization of mental illnesses.