The FACE AIDS Bay Area Ride is a one day, 50- or 15-mile bike ride through the mid-Peninsula of California. Participants in the Bay Ride commit to raise at least $150, which is the cost of one year’s worth of anti-retroviral treatment for one individual living with HIV/AIDS in Rwanda.
Funds raised through the Bay Area Ride are used to support Partners In Health’s work in Rwanda. Both FACE AIDS and Partners In Health work to provide comprehensive health care and socio-economic support to individuals and communities affected by HIV/AIDS.

Specifically, the proceeds will be supporting the FACE AIDS Adopt a Health Center Campaign. FACE AIDS is supporting Partners in Health (PIH) to renovate Nyamirama Health Center in Kayonza District, Rwanda. The funds we raise will revitalize a community of over 25,000 people through access to quality health care. For many, an improved Nyamirama Health Center will mean the difference between walking over ten kilometers to find care and receiving vital services in their own community. A major component of this campaign is to support major renovations of the existing infrastructure and the construction of new buildings. This year major renovations at Nyamirama include the construction of a maternity ward and a hospital kitchen. Beyond critical infrastructure improvements, PIH will help the health center strengthen its staff. In addition to hiring and increasing the salaries of nurses, data managers, guards, and cleaners, the collective support will allow the health center to hire social workers for the first time who are critical to community health care. Chapters from across the FACE AIDS network are taking part in the campaign, with a goal of raising $185,000 by May 31, 2012. Your enthusiasm for the Bay Area Ride 2012 is essential in reaching FACE AIDS' commitment to Nyamirama. Thank you so much for your support!

Located directly off of the main highway that runs straight from Rwanda’s capital city to the border of Tanzania, Nyamirama Health Center is connected to a reliable supply of electricity, and is easily accessible to the roadside community of over 25,000 that it serves. Despite these advantages and the fact that it serves the largest catchment area in the district, Nyamirama has faced incredible challenges and has been extremely underfunded in the past. The center’s facilities consist of two small
buildings, neither of which is well-suited to medical care. In one of the buildings, a laboratory doubles as a vaccination room during busy childhood immunization campaigns. Due largely to the overwhelming need of the local community, the Ministry of Health has placed Nyamirama as its top priority to receive additional support in Kayonza District.

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Direct Impact of Your Project

Funds raised will be used to support a range of community health initiatives in Rwanda. This year all proceeds will support the FACE AIDS Adopt a Health Center Campaign. FACE AIDS is raising $185,000 to support Partners in Health in the renovation of Nyamirama Health Center in Rwanda.

Learn more about the campaign by checking out the website here: http://faceaids.org/adoptahealthcenter.html