From an Abandoned Building to a Window of Hope “Raqabah Health Facility” Brought Life Back to the People
In the rugged mountains of Bilad At Ta’am district in Raymah Governorate, Raqbah village has long been hidden from the world cut off by severe terrain and a harsh reality where every step toward healthcare is a journey of hardship.
With difficult and costly accessible roads, the residents of Raqbah walked for hours on foot to access the nearest medical services, only to return empty-handed, carrying their suffering back home. Raqbah Health Facility serves over 1,560 people, stood silent for years, 3 km from the governorate center and 2 km from the closest health facility. Residents from the third catchment area walked for over 2.5 hours on foot to seek health and nutrition services. But the health facility was nothing more than an abandoned structure, with no equipment, no permanent medical staff, and no meaningful health and nutrition services.
With generous support from the Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF), the Building Foundation for Development (BFD) stepped in with a life saving nutrition support project that transformed the HF from a lifeless building into a fully operational primary health center.
The HF was completely rehabilitated and equipped with the essential tools to deliver urgent health and nutrition services. It now provides treatment for Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM), along with nutrition counseling, routine immunizations, child health services, maternal and neonatal care, basic emergency care, and screening and monitoring.
Within months of rehabilitation and support, the impact was clear on a significant drop in malnutrition rates, improving health among children and renewing trust in medical services from the local community.
“We used to carry our sick children and walk for hours. Now, treatment is near.” One of the community members said.
This project did more than rehabilitating a building, it revived a forgotten community’s belief in survival. It proved that healthcare is not a luxury, but a human right.
Today, the people of Raqbah live with dignity and renewed hope, thanks to a timely intervention that turned isolation into inclusion and despair into possibility.
