As I entered the village community center in Inigodawela, these words rang out loud through the sound system,

“Testing, 1, 2, 3… Testing 1,2,3…”

This was the location for the today’s Christmas celebrations. Inigodawela, Chilaw, lies in the Northwestern Province, almost 85 kilometers from the capital, Colombo. Inigodawela sits quietly between the Negombo lagoon and vast coconut estates.

Stage lights were flickering and decorations were sitting proudly on the stage. Inigodawela Child Survival Program staff members were rushing to and fro trying to get things completed in time to start their Christmas program.

Trickling in through the two main doorways were mothers enrolled in our Child Survival Program. Right behind them were their husbands and the rest of their families. This day’s celebration was for the entire family, young and old.

One mom, Selena shares,

“This is my first Christmas party. I am so excited, we have never been to anything like this. My entire family is here. My husband and children are taking part quite a few times.”

There were smiles on each face that appeared through those doors. Some were already dressed for their parts in the celebration. Some carried large bags with their costumes.

The program was organized by the Child Survival Program moms and their husbands. They had spent long evenings at the church planning this big event. Enthusiasm had being building up since the beginning of November.

The hall was buzzing with chatter as it filled up. Excited children sat impatiently. Some were too young to know what was going on. But they seemed to sense the joy and excitement in their mothers faces’ as they, too, beamed.

Walking to the back of the stage, behind the large red curtains were presents and bags filled with gifts. Presents were wrapped in beautiful wrapping paper. Names were written clearly on each of them.

Baskets were filled with milk powder, cake, jam, sugar and a few sweets. Each pregnant mother was getting a gift of maternity dresses, and the other mothers were getting a skirt and a blouse each. The babies in the Child Survival Program were getting clothes and a toy, and their brothers and sisters got similar gifts. Fathers were given sarongs (a sarong is a large tube or length fabric that is worn by men in Sri Lanka).

Pastor Palitha serves at the Kithu Sevana Church in Inigodawela, and started off the Christmas celebration by saying,

“It is great to see all of you here today. This is a special day for us. It’s a special day for you, because this is your celebration. This was organized by you, and I have no doubt that this will be a great day of celebration.”

The program started with everyone standing for the national anthem as two young boys brought the national flag on to the stage. Then there were dances, dramas and one song after the another. Many songs were from the local cinema scene, and they each spoke of the love of a mother for a child.

Among these songs was one sung by Selena’s husband;

“You lost your mother’s love when she left you to seek greener pastures, but I am with you, don’t you see? I am there right next to you always, or is it just motherly love and not fatherly love and affection you recognize.”

As these words rang through the hall, there was silence, even among the children.

This father may have known it or not, but he had touched the hearts of all who where here this day. Drinking, extramarital affairs, divorce and alcohol abuse are large issues in these areas. A few of the fathers in the room were alcoholics and not involved with their children. But as this song rang out, the father next to me, holding his baby, had tears in his eyes.

Selena is a mother of four children and she lives near the lagoon. Her house is very simple. One large bed and a couple of chairs, one little mirror and a small place of worship (a small statue of Buddha and a clay lamp) makes up the living space in this mother’s home. Her husband was in the army for some time before he left to be with his family. Selena’s elder daughter was adopted by her brother.

With a hint of sadness in her voice Selena explains,

“My brother and his wife couldn’t have children and I was not in a position to look after her. We were much poorer then, so I gave her to my brother.”

Selena and her husband are active participants in the Child Survival Program. They are one of 40 families represented at this community hall, this day.

Laughter filled the hall as children and adults performed comedies, mimicking those from their own families. Stories of love, songs of friendship echoed. Children watched in awe as they saw their parents sing, dance and act, something very different from what they had witnessed at home.

Vasanthi sat with her little baby, Sasini, in her lap. Both watched with a smile as Vasanthi’s husband and Sasini’s father, Ranjith, acted in a comedy for which he and his team had been practicing from the time this event was organized.

A few chairs away Shashikala was enjoying the drama, while her little baby boy, Hirun, played with his own little hands, which seemed to be a little more interesting to him!

It was time for the presents to be given. Mothers, some carrying infants, went on to the stage as their names were called out. Smiles were seen on every face as they received their gifts.

As I walked through the families present, taking pictures and speaking with them, one thing resounded from almost all of them;

“We are so happy today, we are truly happy beyond words.”

I think these words alone are enough to sum up the success of this program, which was organized by these families, for these families.

There is a definite change and impact in their lives since the Child Survival Program started. For me, an outsider to this community, the change is evident. From my first visit to this remote village up until now, I have witnessed and heard about the change that is breaking forth within these mothers and their families. There is a greater power within these families, a greater power working through them.

Christmas is a time for families and laughter and sharing. We provided the mothers and their children with special Christmas gifts this day. But that is not where this story ends; it’s just a beginning.

These Child Survival Program participants taught us that no matter what their lives were like, there is a change, and they are not just people looking to receive. They are families and individuals who are looking to share.

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 Our Child Survival Program (CSP) not only helps young children survive the vulnerable first four years of their lives; it also provides mothers an opportunity to be trained in vocational skills so they can help increase their family income.

In the Dominican Republic, participating churches encourage mothers to go back to school to learn to read and write and to take vocational training courses that range from hairdressing to computers.

In most cases, these mothers are single moms. In others, their spouses are unemployed or have informal part-time jobs with very low pay.

This is the case of 33-year-old CSP mother Marcia from the community of Manganagua in Dominican Republic. She has been in the program since she was two months pregnant with her daughter Neidi, who is now 4 years old.

Marcia witnessed how Neidi’s development was faster than that of her two older children. In fact, Neidi began walking when she was just 8 months old; her siblings had not walked until after they were a year old.

In the last four years, through the CSP program, Marcia has received medical help for her daughter when needed, along with other regular benefits of the program.

Nevertheless, the cost of raising three children has made it necessary for Marcia to leave her children in care of her sister next door so Marcia can work. Marcia cleans a house in another community, for which she is paid RD$3,000.00 (US$81.00) a month.

But with house rent of RD$3,500.00 (US$92.00) plus the cost of food and other needs, it’s challenging for Marcia and her husband to make ends meet. Marcia’s husband, Jose, is an agricultural worker at a farm with a salary of RD$6,000.00 (US$162.00).

Marcia longs for a chance to help her family improve their living conditions.

She first saw an opportunity for change when she began to participate in the sewing course at Iglesia Comunitaria Monte de Sion Church. There she learned how to repair clothes. At the end of the training, Marcia received a surprise gift.

“After I took the sewing course, the church chose some mothers to give sewing machines to. I was one of the chosen mothers. I have my own sewing machine now.”

Even though she doesn’t have a shop yet, Marcia has begun to repair some torn items of clothing that her neighbors have brought to her.

“I have repaired clothes for my neighbors and, in return, they have given me some money, which I have used to buy the chicken to feed to my children.”

Marcia is happy to be able to do things for herself and her family that she used to have to pay someone else to do.

“I have learned to repair my trousers and to make curtains and cushions. I have repaired skirts and blouses of my daughter. And I have repaired and made Bermuda shorts for my boys.”

Monte de Sion Community Center is now preparing to provide further training to Marcia and other mothers who have learned the basics of sewing.

“I am waiting for the vocational course on clothes design and cutting so I can learn to make clothes.”

Marcia is starting to see a new opportunity to generate income without having to be away from her children the whole day.

“If I have a sewing shop at home, I won’t have the need of going outside for work. As a dressmaker, I could work right at home.”

Monte de Sion Community Church is serving a total of 100 mothers in its Child Survival Program; nearly half of them have already participated in vocational training courses. Sewing, making decorative candles, cooking, upholstery, baking and computer basics are among the skills taught to the mothers at the center.

Every CSP center in the Dominican Republic provides vocational training opportunities to the mothers in the program so they can generate income to help their families.

In a community like Padre Las Casas in the province of Azua, in the south of the country, the mothers participating at the CSP center have begun training in hairdressing and sewing, among other skills.

If the mothers don’t have their own equipment when they complete their training course, the local church arranges a schedule for them to meet their customers at the vocational training center. The mothers are allowed to use the center’s equipment to do the work and begin generating an income.

The goal is for them to earn enough money to buy their own equipment and set up their own shops.

This sincere love and concern expressed by our church partners toward people in need help convey the gospel of Christ in a powerful manner.

Marcia received Jesus as her Savior and she has seen how the Lord has changed her own life and her home.

“I have changed a lot. I am living in a better home condition. My lifestyle and way of being have changed a lot. I have learned how to treat my children.”

Children in the CSP program receive the biggest benefit of all; young Neidi is ready to continue her development through Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program .

Irene, director of the CSP at the Luz de Esperanza Student Center in Manganagua, shares with us,

“It’s always very rewarding to me to see the children who finish the Child Survival Program. They are used to being in all the activities. They have learned to love the child development center. It’s completely different from those children who come directly from the community without coming through the Child Survival Program.”

Marcia is grateful for the change that has taken place in her life since joining the Child Survival Program:

“As I’ve been in church, things in my life have been being corrected slowly. I have changed a lot. I give thanks to God for everything. I have changed for better. I live more in peace. God has given me a lot and I am thankful to Him.”

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Being pregnant, giving birth, caring for a newborn, and raising a child are all God-given tasks that are privileges, but in some cases, the stress they create is unbearable. Psychologists say that at least half of women are likely to get “the blues” or depressed in the weeks following childbirth, even in best-case scenarios.

Many of the mothers in our Child Survival Program cope with depression. They are neglected, abandoned and isolated.

In addition, they lack the knowledge and confidence to overcome the challenges in their lives. They may be single moms or they may be moms that were married as children. Either way, they are at a disadvantage, with little to no control over their own lives.

However, psychologists also say that one of the best solutions to fighting postpartum depression is the company of other people, especially the company of other women who have the same experiences.

The best resource that people have is each other. This seems like common sense and easy to make happen, but oftentimes it is not. Women in poverty live isolated lives. Often, they require permission to leave their homes. They cannot easily associate with other people.

Our Child Survival Program helps women because it offers them group-learning activities, opportunities for service to each other, and a community of faith.

Staff members break the barrier of isolation by conducting regular home visits and teaching mothers critical child survival lessons one-on-one. These interventions raise the self-esteem, confidence, and knowledge of the mothers.

As a result, women who initially did not want their pregnancies come to accept and cherish the lives growing in them. Women with complicated pregnancies and difficult births and postpartum depression now have support through each other. Mothers and babies are better off.

There truly is power in numbers, and our Child Survival Program facilitates the support that mothers provide to each other.

“Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up.” –Ecclesiastes 4:9-10a.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

These are statements we hear from moms in our Child Survival Program:

“I didn’t know the importance of cleaning with soap.”

“I didn’t know that I was not feeding my child correctly.”

“I didn’t know that it was important to play with my child.”

Mothers in our Child Survival Program range in age from the young teens to the early 40s. Knowledge that we consider common sense is not always common for them. These moms typically lack the opportunity to learn basic home economics skills. And sometimes, the lack of one of these basic skills means life or death for an infant.

So what do we do?

Our Child Survival Program builds trust between a mother and a church staff member who visits on a regular basis. These visits provide opportunities to teach home economics skills in a safe and trusting environment.

We provide church partners with a list of necessary home economics skills; the staff then adapt the list so that the skills fit the context of their communities.

Our resource curriculum provides “mini lesson plans” enabling Survival Specialists to teach these skills to mothers in the program.

Samples of these skills include:

• Ensuring a source of fuel for cooking, like firewood or gas, and safely handling the fuel source.
• Understanding a balanced diet and providing it to the infant. This helps the mother avoid giving her child “empty calories” such as those found in tea or colas or carbohydrate-rich diets that lack essential protein, vitamins and minerals.
• Purifying water to make it safe for drinking.
• Identifying the early symptoms of illness so mothers can seek medical assistance for her children as quickly as possible.
• Using soap and water to wash hands before handling food and after using the toilet or latrine. And, teaching the same to their children.
• Understanding a baby’s temperament so that mothers can better and more quickly address the baby’s needs.
• Making and using laundry detergent to clean the family’s clothing.
• Making safe and fun toys for the children from recyclable materials.
• Removing or being vigilant about hazards that can harm children in the home.

Because many moms in the Child Survival Program are also illiterate, our resource curriculum also contains mini lesson plans to teach them functional literacy and basic math skills. Basic skills mothers should have in order to properly care for their children, especially in emergencies, include:

• Reading a medicine label and instructions so medicine can be properly administered when necessary.
• Reading a map or a bus route to go to the hospital when necessary.
• Understanding a bill.
• Managing a simple budget.
• Understanding a proper business transaction (such as giving cash and counting change).
• Understanding simple arithmetic such as addition and subtraction and some multiplication and division.

Moms in our Child Survival Program also have opportunities to learn income-generating skills so they may eventually help provide for their families financially.

Examples of these income-generating skills include:

• Sewing and tailoring.
• Baking and cooking.
• Confectionery, such as making chocolates and candies.
• Beauty services, such as manicures and pedicures.
• Simple agriculture and animal-husbandry skills, such as growing their own vegetables and raising their own chickens and goats.
• Cleaning services.

So, next time you slip on your dishwashing gloves, or pick up a bar of soap to wash your hands, or take out food to prepare a meal, remember how valuable your knowledge of home economics is. It helps keep you healthy.

Similarly, next time you read a medicine label, get directions from a Global Positioning System, or receive change from a vendor, thank God that you are not dependent on other people to explain these things to you. You are less likely to be taken advantage of.

And next time you set about to do your work, even if it is drudgery, thank God that you have an income. Many people don’t even have the skills or opportunity to work. Thank God that He gives us common-sense knowledge to share with others!

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 To finish well in life, it makes an enormous difference if you are given opportunities that allow you to begin well. Our Child Survival Program and Leadership Development Program help children living in extreme poverty to begin and finish well.

The Beginning – Rwanda

Recently, 35 mothers and their babies, and a group of church partners, pastors, representatives from other child development organizations, government officials from throughout East Africa, and ministry staff in Rwanda gathered to launch the Child Survival Program. This event created increased awareness of the need to honor unborn children and highlighted the work of our ministry.

At this special event, Uwingeneye shared her testimony. The 29-year-old mother of four explained how her own mother wanted to abort her and later almost died while delivering her. As a result, she was named ‘Uwingeneye’ which means “the one whom God gave me,” since her mother did not want her.

Uwingeneye’s first two children are 5-year-old twins; her third child is a 3-year-old boy whom she picked up from the roadside and cared for as her very own.

Her second pregnancy, bringing her fourth child, was totally undesired.

She had no job except washing clothes for her neighbors to earn 1,000 Rwandan francs [$1.67] once in a while. Her husband left her. She could not afford rent. She too wanted to abort her child.

“I knew what it meant to have a baby without means. When I was desperate and had tried to abort and failed, the Lord spoke to me in a dream. From Revelation 2:5 God told me to remember the height from which I had fallen, to repent and do the works I did at first, and that if I did not repent, He would remove my lampstand from its place.

God told me the child I was carrying would save my life, but I did not understand how.”

When we came to take her picture for registration into the Child Survival Program, Uwingeneye first thought we were the kind of people who take advantage of the poor and vulnerable by pretending to be an organization that offers aid while using their photos to make money.

Uwingeneye soon discovered she was wrong when our ministry became a blessing to her.

“After the Child Survival Program staff discovered how I was always sent out of houses because I could not afford rent, they paid my rent for a whole year. Because of my sickness, I thought I would deliver from home, but a Child Survival Program worker came and picked me up from home with much respect in a special hired vehicle.

The ministry paid all my medical bills. I would have never gotten money to pay them myself. I may have died had Compassion not been there for me. The ministry gave me all the necessary things for my baby.

The Child Survival Program staff also brought me congratulatory gifts (a custom in the Rwandese culture when a woman gives birth). I thank them because, in the three months after giving birth, I did not lack any foods such as sugar, porridge and other foods husbands give to their wives when they’ve given birth. My husband was not there, but God was there, and the Child Survival Program did it for me.”

 Uwingeneye went on to explain how she was helped to start an income-generating activity of plaiting hair. She also considered the scarcity of water in her home area and bought enough jerry cans and buckets to fetch a lot of water and collect rain water to sell at a profit in the days of scarcity. She testified how she got enough profit to return borrowed items and buy her own, to feed her children, send them to school, and dress her family.

The launching of the Child Survival Program in Rwanda was a celebration of hope. A hope that allows more women like Uwingeneye the opportunity to leave extreme poverty behind. A hope that allows moms to offer their children necessities like clean water, food and an education.

Halfway around the world we had a different kind of celebration. One that launched four young men from our Leadership Development Program into finishing their degrees and entering the world as educated adults.

The Finish and a New Beginning – Guatemala

The most recent Leadership Development Program graduation took place in Guatemala City where family members, ministry staff and special guests were able to share this important moment with four outstanding students who completed the Leadership Development Program and made a new life transition.

The Leadership Development Program graduation ceremony is a special event prepared for the students. Ivonne, Leadership Development Program Team Lead, explains,

“It is a ceremony where we want to celebrate their accomplishment and show them how much they have achieved.”

The ceremony is a celebration of the beginning of a new life season, and planning for the graduation begins a year in advance. Plans include finding an appropriate location, choosing a guest speaker, sending invitations, and preparing awards.

This year’s guest speaker was Julie Weller, a member of our ministry’s board. Julie also sponsored one of the graduating Leadership Development Program students, Florencio. In her speech, she encouraged graduates to use their gifts and experiences for God’s kingdom and glory. She advised them to stay close to the Lord.

Julie encouraged and challenged the Leadership Development Program graduates as she read Ephesians 3:16-20,

“As you commit your lives to him, his mighty power is at work within you to make a difference.”

In the midst of this celebration there was a bittersweet feeling because four of the best students, Jonathan, Dujardin, Florencio and Alvaro, were concluding the program.

Jonathan

Jonathan, a theology major, was given special recognition for his outstanding academic performance. He was also involved in the Leadership Development Academy. The Academy is a two-week program where semifinalists for the Leadership Development Program learn about and prepare for college. During this program, the Leadership Development Program students choose new students for the Leadership Development Program.

Jonathan later participated as an Academy group leader, influencing the lives of the next Leadership Development Program generation.

Dujardin

Dujardin pursued a civil engineering degree. Ivonne shares,

“Dujardin is a very determined young man. He has a very humble spirit and works really hard to achieve his goals. He acknowledges all the hard work his parents, sponsors and Leadership Development Program specialists have done to support him.”

Florencio

Florencio decided to go to law school. He likes to be involved in church and has a heart of service for God. He is currently working as Program Coordinator at the Compassion student center he once attended.

His plans for the future include running a law office, so he can earn profits and still have time to donate his services to people who cannot afford to pay him.

Florencio was blessed with the visit of his sponsors for graduation. They have been his sponsors since he was in the Child Sponsorship Program, and they flew to Guatemala especially to share this important day.

“Having a sponsor has been really special, a special blessing. It has impacted my life.”

For Florencio his sponsors are like his second family.

“In them I found the support of another family. Even from far away they always asked me how I was doing in school, in church and in life. They asked about my needs.”

Florencio’s sponsor had visited him three times before, and this time she came with her husband and two children. The support of Florencio’s sponsors has transformed him and helped him achieve this major milestone.

Alvaro

Alvaro majored in industrial engineering. Ivonne expresses about Alvaro,

“He is an extraordinary young man. He has a very noble heart. One of the characteristics that make Alvaro so outstanding is that he looks for opportunities to grow in the Lord and serve Him.”

Alvaro entered the Child Sponsorship Program when he was 9 and has been a part of our ministry for 16 years now. Through his time with us, he has come to know the Lord in a more personal way. The application process for the Leadership Development Program program made him depend completely on God. Every person on our staff who knows Alvaro mentions his relationship with God as one of his greatest characteristics.

Alvaro has also contributed in the Leadership Development Academy as a tutor for students who attend the program.

“Being asked to help with The Academy is the best memory I have from the Leadership Development Program. I was honored to be included in the selection process of the new students.”

Alvaro’s plan for the future is to start his own business in few years.

“The university gave me the tools that will help me achieve my goals.”

In the meantime, Alvaro will work to provide for his family and save money to start his business. He is interested in projects like recycling, exporting vegetables and food processing. He is an entrepreneur, thanks to his college education and to the Leadership Development Program.

All four students are beginning new journeys in their lives, which is why the Leadership Development specialists make sure graduation is an encouragement to them.

Higher education in Guatemala is different from higher education in other countries. The process of graduation begins when students finish all required courses. Completing course work can take five to six years. Once they have completed their courses, students are authorized to take a private exam or general test. If they pass that test, they can present their dissertation.

Next, an internship may be required, which could take an additional six to eight months. The students take a year and a half to three years to finally graduate after they have finished all their courses.

Dujardin, Florencio and Alvaro celebrated the Leadership Development Program graduation and are now working hard on  their university graduation. Jonathan has already obtained his theology degree.

Thanks to the support of the Leadership Development Program, these four students will be able to achieve their dreams of higher education very soon. And thanks to the Child Survival Program, Uwingeneye is no longer homeless and is able to provide a future for her children, one that may even include attending the Leadership Development Program someday.

Photos and content for this post were provided by Rosette Mutoni, Field Communications Specialist, Rwanda and Nadia Soberanis, Field Communications Specialist, Guatemala.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Recently, I traveled to our Compassion Canada office for a week of meetings. But instead of sitting in meetings all day, I found a very tricky way of getting out of them: I came down with appendicitis.

Appendicitis doesn’t sound that scary, but when you’re pregnant — much scarier.

Thankfully, I was blessed to be in a developed country near one of the best ob-gyn facilities in the area. I had a quick operation, and my baby came through like a kicking champ (kicking all my sore spots, that is). I’ve never been so keenly aware that access to reliable, safe medical care is a tremendous blessing.

A week later, I sat in my home and worked on a report from one of our Child Survival Programs in La Paz, Bolivia. As the staff at this program interviewed mothers to be registered, they heard repeatedly how many of the moms had already lost one or two children. One mother, Lucia, has experienced the death of three children.

According to local data, 113 children out of 1,000 die before they are 5 years old. That’s more than 10 percent.

I can’t imagine the pain and devastation of losing one child.

A good friend of mine recently lost her baby, and some days the waves of grief that come over her make the most basic life functions unbearable. Imagine losing three children.

Nancy, the director of this CSP program, knows how hard it is for these mothers.

“One might think that since the moms have so many children, losing one doesn’t affect them, but that’s not the case. The moms feel that loss.”

It can be easy to subtly or even subconsciously assume that mothers in other countries are somehow different from us or that they feel things differently than we do. But that’s a lie.

They face their own unique challenges (that I certainly cannot understand) but they feel the same heartache that any human would feel.

The challenges in this particular community go deeper than just a lack of medical care and the emotional scars it has wrought.

Sometimes we would like to think that implementing a program is like waving a magic wand. A couple of swishes of the wand and “Ta da!” everything is better. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works — as any of our thousands of field workers can tell you.

Many of the mothers who live in this Bolivian community moved here from remote Andean regions. Many are illiterate and have little education. They grew up knowing only home remedies for sickness and don’t trust doctors or health clinics. In this community, the battle isn’t so much providing medical care for babies as it is educating the mothers to accept medical care.

According to Rosa, CSP program coordinator,

“When children get sick, the mothers usually treat them with home remedies because that is what they have learned. They don’t trust doctors. Even though their child might be dying, they take the risk of using only herbs because they aren’t in the habit of taking [children] to the doctor.”

Even among mothers who have the benefit of being in the Child Survival Program, it can be difficult to get them to seek and receive urgent medical care when it’s needed.

When it comes to childbirth, the mothers in our program are accustomed to giving birth alone at home and are resistant to giving birth at a clinic. Unlike home births in much of the developed world, these mothers are often alone — without aid from anyone who knows what to do if the delivery doesn’t go smoothly.

This is one of the factors that has led to such a high infant- and maternal- mortality rate, and why Rosa is worried about the moms. She doesn’t want to see any of them or their children die.

When asked what she would like us to pray for, she asks for prayer for the births:

“Please pray for the pregnant mothers. I worry about them. They don’t know how their childbirth is going to go because they always have their children at home because they don’t trust the health centers at all. So I would ask the supporters to pray for the childbirths.”

Would you join me in praying for all the mothers in the Child Survival Program, that they would give birth to healthy babies and accept the support and help they need?

Would you also pray for Child Survival Program workers such as Rosa and Nancy, that God would give them wisdom and discernment to educate and guide these mothers while being respectful of their background and culture?

And would you give thanks that we in developed nations are so very blessed to give birth where we know we have the medical care we need?

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

This Sunday is Mother’s Day (in the U.S.), and the mothers of our Child Survival Program have a message to share with you.

You are the reason our lives are changed. We thank God for giving you as helpers. Now, our faith in God is increased. And we are hopeful of a bright future for our children.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Losing a child and seeing your little one suffer are two of the most painful things a mom can face in life. This is why we are working with churches to provide care for mothers and babies through our Child Survival Program (CSP).

Pastor David Platt and a team from The Church at Brook Hills spent time with a group of Child Survival Program participants in India. The church team was particularly touched by the story of Bhanna, a woman who experienced the heartache of miscarriage and then the joy of motherhood after the intervention of our CSP workers. Pastor Platt relates this story,

“Bhanna began to weep as she described her despair. But it all changed when she was given the chance to be a part of the CSP. After getting pregnant again, she was introduced to the Child Survival Program and the case workers from the local church began to visit her, pray for her and give her encouragement. Bhanna received good education on prenatal care, how to eat nutritious meals, gather information on how to take care of the baby properly once it was born, and most importantly Bhanna heard about Christ.”

Read the entire post from The Global Initiative

Bhanna’s story wasn’t the only one to stir the hearts of the Brook Hills team. Another mother was told her baby probably wouldn’t live. But God had other plans. Pastor Platt goes on to share about this mom,

“She was pregnant, and various signs in her pregnancy indicated either that her baby would not live or that her baby would need extensive medical treatment. Consequently, two different hospitals in her area turned her away when she visited them. They said that her baby would require too much care, and they would not be able to help her. The Child Survival Program coordinators stepped in, offered her the help she needed, and not long thereafter this precious mom gave birth to a healthy baby girl…a baby girl that is alive and thriving today.”

See a video and read the rest of this story from The Global Initiative.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

I was sitting in a small two-room house in Lima as this insight was revealed to me.

“The government, they just provided me with milk. But the church staff, they teach me how to raise my child.”

The speaker was a caregiver in our Child Survival Program (CSP) in Peru back in 2004. I never forgot that quote. It left a lasting impression.

Sometimes, the measure of success by large financial contributors to interventions for the poor is “the medicine is available at the clinic” or “the well has been dug.” These are all good things and the poor can take advantage of them. However, in essence, they are simply services that have been made available to the poor. They do not factor in the learning aspect. There is no guarantee that just because a service is available, the poor will take advantage of it on their own.

This is where the local church partners that implement our Child Survival Program come in. We partner with local churches in the developing world so that church staff may develop relationships with caregivers in their communities. We call these people “CSP implementers.”

Implementers register pregnant women and caregivers with young children into the Child Survival Program. They visit them at home one to two times a month. During this time, implementers and caregivers develop trust between each other.

The implementer provides the caregiver with child survival knowledge, such as coaching the mother of a newborn as she learns to breast-feed or teaching the mother of an older infant to recognize the symptoms of life-threatening diseases so that the mother can take her child to the local clinic for proper intervention. However, all of this happens as the implementer and the caregiver develop trust in each other. The key word here is trust.

Imagine that one day, you are sitting in your living room reading a book and, suddenly, you get a knock at the door. You go to the door and you are greeted by a group of foreign people. They speak your language, but not that well. You decipher from their conversation that you should eat a certain diet that you can’t afford and that you should practice an exercise regime that you have no interest in or time for.

They invite you to their gathering for next Saturday and they tell you that they have some of this food for this new diet available there. They shake your hand and then they leave.

After reflecting on your conversation for three minutes, you determine it is not worth your time. You decide not go. You return to your couch to read your book.

This same scenario can very easily occur in the developing world except that the caregiver might be milking her goat or cooking a pot of soup over firewood instead of reading a book at the time of the visit.

The suggestions that the visitors make seem foreign to her. She has never heard of this new diet and it doesn’t appeal to her. Since there is no ultimate incentive to participate, she easily ignores the suggestion.

Therefore, trust is the key component to truly making child survival interventions or, for that matter, any interventions for the poor likely to occur.

The desire to practice a new behavior or try out a new way of doing something has to be relational in nature. The fact that we partner with local churches makes this possible. These relationships that implementers develop with the caregivers in their communities are exceptional.

I have heard of implementers who accompany pregnant women during labor. They are present the entire time.

I have heard of caregivers who want to repay the church for the services they have received, but cannot do so monetarily so they come to the church on Saturday mornings to clean the classrooms and help with overall housecleaning.

There is no other motivator like trust. Where there is trust, there is also commitment.

Peer support is also an added advantage to our program. It is typical for CSP caregivers to develop relationships with each other at group trainings to the extent that they encourage each other to participate.

I read of a situation in the Philippines where caregivers visit the home of a caregiver who missed a group activity to make sure she is okay. This peer support alone causes the caregivers to own the program for themselves. They keep each other accountable to participating in the program. Neighbors’ relationships strengthen.

Behavior change is the single most difficult barrier to overcoming poverty. If someone has been doing something a certain way because she learned it that way from her mother and her grandmother and so forth, why should she have any incentive to try something different?

Why should a mother stop feeding her newborn animal milk or tea or plain water and make sure she is properly and exclusively breast-feeding instead?

Why should a caregiver trust a doctor with a needle if she has no relationship with that doctor? She could think it were poison instead of an immunization. It is the trust component.

If the caregiver hears that she should breast-feed from someone she trusts, someone who speaks her language, and someone who has had similar experiences, and if she has seen results from her peers and if she has the knowledge come to her rather than having to go search it out, then yes, she is very likely to change her behavior and practice proper child survival techniques. The commitment from and relationships with the church CSP implementers make all the difference.

In the end, I would say that the question to measure the success of interventions to the poor is:

“Did the person delivering the service and the person receiving the service build trust in each other?”

If yes, then the rest will take care of itself. The child will survive, the child and the caregiver will be healthy, the caregiver will be empowered and confident about her abilities, and the church staff will have truly been “the hands and feet of Jesus” in their communities. They will have brought new life and new hope to their neighbors.

These scenarios repeat themselves thousands of times each month in over 15 countries worldwide in our Child Survival Program. What a privilege and an honor to be part of these amazing lifesaving and life-changing experiences! To God be the glory!

Please visit RescueBabiesNow.org for more information about our Child Survival Program and how you can become involved.

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