Maize fields, red soil and tall trees under a wide sky in rural Rwanda.

Pink Village Movement presents

The Journeyto Care

A story from Kirehe, Rwanda

What happens when the journey to care begins long before you reach a hospital?

Context image of the place, not an image of Lea’s actual trips.

Chapter 01 · Place

Kirehe District, Eastern Rwanda.

Lea is an older woman from Kirehe. Her journey to care would run between her district and two hospitals.

  • Kirehe: district / town level
  • Kanombe: Rwanda Military Hospital
  • Nyamata: Nyamata District Hospital, Bugesera District
KireheKanombeNyamata
Storytelling visualisation, not GPS evidence. Outline: Natural Earth (public domain), simplified.
A wide village square of red earth lined with small shops in Kirehe.
A painted roadside monument reading Akarere Kirehe, Umurenge Gatore, Akagari Rwantonde.

Kirehe District (context images).

View through a car window onto a road and green hills.
A village street in Kirehe: a woman carries firewood on her head as a motorcycle taxi passes.
Kirehe (context image).

Chapter 02 · The first journey

April 3, 2026

Kirehe Kanombe

Lea travelled from Kirehe to Kanombe Military Hospital.

Four examinations, tests or scans were required.

Context image of the place, not an image of Lea’s actual trips.

Chapter 03 · An incomplete pathway

Two of four.

  1. 01Completed
  2. 02Completed
  3. 03Not completed
  4. 04Not completed
2 of 4 The pathway was incomplete.

Two were completed. After one night, Lea returned home.

She did not understand that all four needed to be completed. The pathway existed. What was missing was information.

Schematic. The individual examinations are not named here.

Chapter 04

Months later.

A red dirt road beside banana plants and green hills under a big sky.

April · 2 of 4September

April to September: life in Kirehe went on. The remaining tests had not been completed.

Context image of the place, not an image of Lea’s actual trips.

Chapter 05 · Pink Village Movement

10,000+ village residents reached.

Pink Village Movement brings breast-health education to villages across Kirehe.

Speciose, trained by the founder, is the Lead Village Ambassador. She has trained six Village Ambassadors, who carry the same knowledge into their own communities.

This community knowledge became part of the information pathway that reached Lea's family.

Village residents seated and standing together outdoors in front of a building during a Pink Village Movement gathering.
Four smiling members of the Pink Village Movement team; two women wear pink, one in a pink bucket hat and a breast cancer awareness hoodie.
Pink Village Movement in Kirehe (programme images).
Pink Village Movement (film, about 3.5 minutes, muted by default).

Text alternative: a film about Pink Village Movement community breast-health education in Kirehe. The caption track describes the scenes; it is not a transcript. Transcript pending. No words from the video are quoted or paraphrased here.

Chapter 06 · A thread of information

Information became an intervention.

A woman in a pink tracksuit, seen from behind, speaks and points toward a seated adult audience outdoors.
A Pink Village Movement education session (context image; not the specific event described).

A community education event

Alphonse, Lea's son, attended a Pink Village Movement education event in Kirehe. There he received breast-health information.

Speciose

At the event, Alphonse met Speciose, the Lead Village Ambassador who leads Pink Village Movement in Kirehe.

Speciose, a woman in a pink tracksuit, seated on a pink chair outdoors beside a painted breast-health ribbon board.
Speciose, Lead Village Ambassador, Kirehe.
Alphonse, Lea's son, a young man in a grey t-shirt leaning on a red railing, green hills behind.

Alphonse

Lea's son

Afterward, Alphonse recognised concerning signs in his mother.

Banana plants and green trees beside a red dirt road under a blue sky.
Context image of the place, not an image of Lea’s actual trips.

Home

He brought the information home. The family shared an image with Speciose.

Speciose advised professional examination.

Lea, an older woman in a red jacket and pink headwrap, seated outdoors; a younger woman in an orange dress sits beside her.
Lea (left).

Lea

Lea was examined locally and at Kirehe District Hospital, then referred to Kanombe for further diagnostic work.

Pink Village Movement became a bridge between community information and the formal healthcare system.

Chapter 07 · The remaining tests

16September 2026

Kirehe Kanombe

Lea returned to Kanombe. PVM/BCIEA assisted with transportation and expenses.

The remaining laboratory tests and scans were completed.

  1. 01Completed
  2. 02Completed
  3. 03Completed
  4. 04Completed
4 of 4 The remaining tests were completed.

The Pink House

That night, Lea stayed at the Pink House in Kanombe.

The healthcare pathway existed. Navigating it still required information, connection and practical support.

A building with bright magenta porch pillars and a brick-paved yard.
Pink House (context image; not taken during Lea's stay).
Women seated together in a workshop room with BCIEA signage on the wall.
A BCIEA support space (context image; not taken during Lea's stay).
Lea, seated outdoors with a younger woman (40-second excerpt, muted by default).

Text alternative: a static two-shot of Lea and a younger woman seated outdoors in front of pink pillars and a brick wall; the younger woman holds a phone and speaks. Transcript pending. No words from the video are quoted or paraphrased here.

Chapter 08 · Results

23September 2026

Kirehe Kanombe

Lea returned to Kanombe for her results. PVM/BCIEA again assisted with transportation.

Lea and her family were informed that she had breast cancer.

The medical team told the family that surgery was necessary.

Surgery was scheduled for October 5 at Nyamata District Hospital, Bugesera.

Lea (vertical film, about 4 minutes, muted by default).

Text alternative: Lea filmed outdoors in front of a bright pink building. The caption track describes the scenes; it is not a transcript. Transcript pending. No words from the video are quoted or paraphrased here.

On October 5, Lea underwent successful surgery at Nyamata District Hospital. She is now recovering.

KireheKanombeNyamata
Storytelling visualisation, not GPS evidence. Schematic arcs only: no roads, distances or travel times. (2D map)

Chapter 09 · The map

Four journeys.

Three journeys to Kanombe. One journey to Nyamata for surgery.

  1. April 3, 2026

    Two of four tests completed

    Kirehe → Kanombe. Four examinations, tests or scans were required. Two were completed. Lea returned home after one night.

  2. September 16, 2026

    Four of four tests completed

    Kirehe → Kanombe. PVM/BCIEA assisted with transportation and expenses. The remaining tests and scans were completed. Overnight at the Pink House.

  3. September 23, 2026

    Results and diagnosis

    Kirehe → Kanombe for results. PVM/BCIEA again assisted with transportation. The family was told that surgery was necessary.

  4. October 5, 2026Surgery completed

    Successful surgery

    Kirehe → Nyamata District Hospital, Bugesera District. Lea underwent successful surgery and is now recovering.

Aerial view of a brick hospital building with red roofs surrounded by trees.

Chapter 10 · Surgery and recovery

October 5, 2026

Kirehe Nyamata District Hospital, Bugesera Surgery completed

On October 5, Lea underwent successful surgery at Nyamata District Hospital. She is now recovering.

A journey to care is also a journey of information, connection, access, navigation and support.

Nyamata District Hospital (context image of the hospital, not of Lea's surgery or recovery).

Chapter 11 · The healthcare system

Rwanda's healthcare system provided the pathway to care.

The Government of Rwanda and its healthcare system built the cancer-care infrastructure Lea reached: hospitals, diagnostics, diagnosis and treatment. Community action connected one person to care that already existed.

  1. 01Community awareness
  2. 02Transportation
  3. 03Patient navigation
  4. 04Hospital access
  5. 05Diagnostics
  6. 06Diagnosis
  7. 07Treatment availability
  8. 08SurgeryCompleted October 5
From community awareness to surgery: the pathway in Lea's story.

Non-governmental organisations do not replace government. This project did not create the infrastructure; it helped one family reach it.

Pink Village Movement

The community connection in this story:

  • community education
  • information
  • ambassador connection
  • navigation
  • transportation and expenses through PVM/BCIEA
  • access to Pink House support

Pink Village Movement does not replace clinical care. Diagnosis and treatment are provided by the formal healthcare system.

BCIEA

The organisation behind Pink Village Movement and its practical support.

breastcancerafrica.org

Chapter 12 · Pink Youth Rising

The next generation of BCIEA's work.

Pink Youth Rising teaches young people to see health as a system. Systems thinking is the catalyst.

Their work identified transportation and patient navigation as intervention areas: the same barriers that shaped Lea's journey.

  1. 01Systems thinking
  2. 02Identify barriers
  3. 03Transportation and patient navigation
  4. 04Develop interventions
  5. 05Pink Village Movement as a real-world community testing ground
  6. 06Continued learning
How Pink Youth Rising works: from systems thinking to continued learning.
Pink Youth Rising (34-second excerpt, muted by default).

Text alternative: a programme title card, short interviews with young participants, a classroom session and a group photograph. Transcript pending.

A large group of young people wearing pink ribbons pose together outdoors; one is a wheelchair user.
Pink Youth Rising participants (programme image).

Lea lived the system. Pink Village Movement helped her family navigate it. Pink Youth Rising is teaching young people to see it.

Pink Youth Rising did not provide Lea's care and did not cause her case to be found. Its work points to where interventions matter.

Visit Pink Youth Rising

Chapter 13 · Why we walk

Thats why we walk

Community knowledge helped Lea's family find a way forward. Navigation and practical support helped her reach care. On October 5, she underwent successful surgery. She is now recovering.

On October 27, we will walk in Kirehe as part of the Ulinzi Whole Woman Movement, honoring Lea and the community work that helped connect her to care.

October 27, 2026 · Kirehe, Rwanda

A smiling woman in a pink bucket hat, pink hoodie and a black breast cancer early detection vest points to a painted village sign in Kirehe District, Gatore Sector, Rwantonde Cell, Rwanda.
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