A celebration took place on September 20 in Dubreka, a city located just outside Conakry. The new DREAM Center, dedicated mostly to the mother to child prevention, has opened. It is also a useful Center for the many patients that until now had to undertake long and difficult journeys to reach the Conakry DREAM Center, and who will now be able to have the same treatment closer to their homes.

It is an important step in a time which is yet difficult for Guinea, as it still lacks availability of medicine and capacity to care for so many patients affected by AIDS. A support from ONUSIDA will allow DREAM to accommodate in a first moment 30 HIV positive pregnant women who will follow the complete prevention program to avoid the transmission of the virus, while in the meantime work will continue to try and increase the accommodation capacity.

The Center is small but the hope is huge as well as the joy of the local population who in the previous days have helped to make the place beautiful and welcoming. The clinic is located in a large yard (the place hosted a school for some time), sheltered but close to the most important regional road which leads to Guinea Maritime.

The First Lady of the Republic, M.me Djené Condé Kaba, attended the inauguration ceremony, which was followed by the national television and many public and private radio stations.

Three little girls of DREAM greeted the First Lady gifting her with a calabash of Colah nuts as a sign of welcome while one of the most famous music bands of Conakry, Les Etoiles de Boulbinet, have cheered the ceremony with traditional music and dances.

Various interventions have followed, underlining the beauty and importance of the work done by DREAM Guinea. In particular, the First Lady emphasized the partnership between her Foundation and all partners « specially the DREAM program of the Community of Sant’Egidio, which for so many years has been supporting the Republic of Guinea». At the end of the speech, Eva, the first little girl born within DREAM, now almost 5 years old, offered a bouquet of flowers and sat next to the First Lady.

The strength of the testimony of Fatoumata Sylla, an activist of DREAM, has particularly impressed all: Fatou, who has two healthy children born under DREAM, will be the coordinator of the new Center and already, on the opening day, some pregnant women came to her and have set their first appointment.

Amongst the speakers there were also the Prefect, the Chief of Cabinet representing the Minister of Health, the head of ONUSIDA in Guinea, all stressing the need to work together for the future of Guinean children and mothers.

After the speeches, the First Lady cut the ribbon and visited the Center, learning through DREAM’s staff how it works, about the computer system and the role of the activists of I DREAM. After a group photo with the friends of I DREAM and the departure of the First Lady, the party continued and it wasn’t easy to put an end to the music and dances.
Next Tuesday the Center will open its doors to new patients, in close contact with the hospital and the Center of maternal and child health care of Dubreka.