AVF Care Workshop - 18th Edition, Quatre Bornes, Mauritius
Date – 23 August 2026
For the first time in its history, the AVF Care Workshop travelled outside India. Nearly 100 haemodialysis patients, their families, and nursing staff filled the Town Hall of the Municipality of Quatre Bornes for a session built around one simple idea: your fistula isn’t a surgery you had once — it’s an organ you live with, and you are the person best placed to look after it.
We were honoured to be joined by:
- Hon. Anil Bachool, GOSK — Minister of Health and Wellness
- Hon. Dr. Arvin Boolell, GOSK — Minister of Agro-Industry
- The Hon. Veda Baloomoody — Speaker of the National Assembly
- His Worship Mr. Gungabissoon Lutchmee Soobiraj — Mayor of Quatre Bornes
- Hon. Stephanie Anquetil — Chief Whip of Government
Every patient went home with a Kidney Warrior Toolkit — a stethoscope, a specially designed T-shirt, a red wristband, a renal diet guide, and more — so the listening and checking can continue at home, every day.
Two free apps, launched in English and French
Both work completely offline, need no login or account, and keep everything on the patient’s own phone.
Self Examination AVF — how to look at, feel, and listen to your fistula. 👉 https://avf-self-exam.vercel.app/
Can I Eat This? — a renal diet guide built around Mauritian and Indian food. Every patient on dialysis asks the same question at the table, usually with nobody around to answer it. Now there is:
- Type a food in English, French, or the name you actually use — letchi, brèdes, dholl puri, bringelle — and get a clear YES / CAREFUL / NO, how much, why in plain words, and what to eat instead
- 97 foods from the Mauritian and Indian kitchen
- A daily-needs calculator for fluid limit, weight-gain ceiling, and protein target
- A cup counter to track the day
- A quiz to test yourself
- 46 of the most-asked patient questions, answered
- Can’t find a food? One tap sends it to us on WhatsApp — that’s how the list grows. 👉 https://avf-diet.vercel.app/
Both apps support the advice of a patient’s own dialysis unit and dietitian — they don’t replace it. No cost, no registration, no advertising. Ever.
18th AVF Care Workshop · Mauritius
Received by the President of Mauritius at State House, Réduit
On 24 August, the day after the 18th AVF Care Workshop in Quatre Bornes, His Excellency Mr Dharambeer Gokhool, G.C.S.K., President of the Republic of Mauritius, received us at State House, Réduit.
I am grateful for the time he gave us. We spoke about the workshop held the previous morning at the Town Hall of the Municipality of Quatre Bornes, the first in this series outside India, where dialysis patients, their families and dialysis staff learned to check a fistula with a stethoscope in under a minute. And we spoke about why creating a fistula is only half the work. Keeping it alive is the other half.
I also had the privilege of presenting the President with a copy of “You Were Our Best Teachers”, our book on what dialysis patients have taught us about looking after their fistulas, and a small memento from the workshop.
With me were Mr Bose Soonarane, OSK, President of the Renal Disease Patients’ Association, whose members first asked for this workshop in Mauritius, and Chanderkanta, who was on the ground in Mauritius and organised the workshop, the meetings and everything in between. Very little of that week would have happened without her.
My thanks to the President and to his office for the courtesy shown to us throughout.
Dr Himanshu Verma, MS, FEVS
What Patients Say
Patient Reviews
“
Hi thank you, the workshop was very informative. I personally never realised, or had never been told, that it was so important to take care of my fistula in this way. The app is very interesting and will be a great help. Thank you to the entire team.
“
A tous bane patients ki p vine workshop demain, amene zot portable et faire provision met n package Internet lors zot telephone.
“
Thanks for asking our opinion. It was a good and fruitful workshop. But next time it should be planned in a way that dialysis patients sit along and family members separately. Otherwise for the first time it was very good.
“
Hi everyone, I am Mrs Sunnassee, patient at JNH. I wish to congrats Mrs Francesca and all team for organising this workshop which was very fruitful. But unfortunately many patients of Rose Belle were not aware of it. Hope next time they will get the opportunity to participate in other workshops. Thank you all and take care.
“
Hi, the workshop was really a success thanks to Fran. Even I did not come empty handed, I learned something new.
What’s next
The most common feedback afterward: the session was too short. We heard you. Free bilingual sessions now continue every two weeks on Google Meet — message us on WhatsApp at +91 92172 17070 to join, and send your questions in advance.
This was only a beginning. We intend to keep returning — to meet more patients, to know the ones we’ve already met better, and to build patient education in Mauritius as something continuous, not a single visit. A relationship, not an event. More to come as it takes shape.
Thank you
To L’express Maurice, for covering the workshop and carrying the message to dialysis patients across Mauritius who couldn’t be in the room with us.
To Mr. Bose Soonarane of the Renal Disease Patients Association, who opened every door. To Francesca Maleco Wai Choon, who held the room together and made sure no patient’s question went unheard. And to Chanderkanta Thakura, who carried this programme from an idea in India to a full hall in Quatre Bornes — every list, every call, every patient reached was her work.
To the Renal Disease Patients Association and the Municipality of Quatre Bornes, for opening their doors and their hearts.
Maintain the lifeline for the lifetime.
