Support Rwanda Endoscopy Week March 2025!

Who are we? GI Rising Inc. (https://www.gi-rising.org/) is a 501©3 non-profit organization dedicated to bringing sustainable gastroenterology and endoscopic care to the people of Rwanda, a small country of 14 million in sub-Saharan East Africa whose healthcare system was decimated by the 1994 genocide. In the past 20 years, Rwanda has made enormous strides to recreate and reimagine its healthcare system. However, gastroenterology and endoscopic care is still very limited in Rwanda, despite liver disease and esophageal, stomach, and liver cancer being in the top 25 causes of death.

What are we doing? In 2022, GI Rising Inc. in partnership with Rwanda Society for Endoscopy and the Rwandan Ministry of Health collaborated to create the first sub-specialty fellowship in Gastroenterology & Hepatology. This year, four Rwandan citizens will graduate and become founding faculty for future fellows. As impressive as these recent achievements have been, there is much work to do to create a gastroenterology program throughout the entire country and GI Rising’s mission is to assist in providing the equipment and resources these dedicated practitioners need to provide care to the poor in outlying parts of Rwanda. International faculty travel throughout the year to teach and to provide care for the poor. But the largest gathering happens each year during Rwanda Endoscopy Week (REW).

Picture: Rwandan’s first GI fellows

Why do we need your help?! Due to Marburg Virus the 7th annual REW was rescheduled to March 2025. Over 50 practitioners from around the world will travel to sites throughout Rwanda and perform over 1000 endoscopic procedures and consultations. GI Rising helps to procure, donate and repair the endoscopic equipment needed to do this. 100% of donations go directly to this program (there is no administrative overhead). Our goal is to raise $50,000 by March 1, 2025. With your generous help we will reach this goal and change peoples’ lives!!