Sneha grew up in a poor farmer’s home. Her father could not afford to pay a dowry to marry off his two daughters, as is custom in much of India. There were already enough financial struggles at home. So Sneha assured her father she would marry whomever he chose for her after her sister married outside of their clan.

Sneha’s father got a proposal for her after a year. When the two families met over lunch at their home, it seemed to be the perfect match because no dowry was even asked for. They agreed, and Sneha got married.

But after one month, life started to change. Fights started at home. Sneha’s husband started accusing her of being unfaithful, even with her brother-in-law.

She thought it was his possessiveness of her that made him angry and verbally abusive. But when Sneha learnt about her husband’s abusive and suspicious nature from the neighbors, she was hurt. Sneha kept his behavior secret from her family, and she had no way out.

Sneha thought perhaps a child would end the tension in their marriage. After a year she conceived and gave birth to a beautiful little girl.

Things did not change as Sneha had expected. Her husband started abusing her even more because she had a girl instead of a boy. Gradually his verbal abuse turned into physical torture. He would burn the little baby’s tender skin with cigarettes. He would grab Sneha by the hair, and hit her in front of the neighbors.

He even stopped Sneha from going home to see her parents. But Sneha never complained to her parents because she knew it would break her father’s heart. Sneha thought she would be able to change her husband with love and affection.

After two years Sneha conceived again. She was afraid to tell her husband, and when she did, he threatened to kill her if she gave birth to another girl. Sneha struggled a lot during her second pregnancy. Her husband tortured her, she cried much of the day, and half the time she did not even eat.

One evening Sneha’s husband came home from work furious. He didn’t talk with Sneha. After dinner he called Sneha into the room, picked a fight, and tied her up with her daughter. He then poured kerosene on them and Sneha started screaming for help.

The neighbors heard Sneha’s voice and rushed to rescue her. She took shelter in their home that night and left with her girls early the next morning to go home to her parents. Sneha went home battered and bruised.

Even after returning home to her parents, life wasn’t easy for Sneha. People in the community began talking ill about her instead of sympathizing with her. Sneha gradually became depressed because the trauma she went through was immense. Her hope was lost and her dreams for her children shattered.

Sneha worked hard as a single mother so that she wouldn’t become a burden on her parents. She rolled bidi, which are local cigarettes, to support her children and herself. And every day Sneha would hear children singing inside a church building that she walked by on her way home.

She was curious what was going on, so one day she stood for a while peeping through the window. She heard children singing and praying, learning moral values and the Word of God.

Sneha was inspired by what she heard and saw inside the church. The next morning she went and met the pastor and shared her life’s story with him. The pastor urged her to attend the Sunday worship service and since then Sneha began attending the church with the hope that she would get some help for her daughter from the church.

Last year our Child Survival Program (CSP) opened at the church. God heard Sneha’s prayer. She enrolled in the Child Survival Program with her younger daughter, who was 8 months old at that time. When she first started attending she would sit quietly in the corner and cry.

Sneha is an industrious mother with great potential and eagerness to learn. She shares the Scripture stories she learns in the Child Survival Program with her daughters and parents back home. She has grown in prayer. Sneha has become firm in her faith in God.

“I do know that if God is there with me, it doesn’t matter how difficult the circumstances may be.”

The Child Survival Program offers income-generating activities through which Sneha is learning tailoring and stitching to help her become independent in the future.

“I don’t have go to a tailor for stitching my clothes now …. I can stitch a frock, skirt and small tops for both my daughters sitting at home.”

The Child Survival Program has helped Sneha to have a vision for her children.

“I am saving a little money in a mud pot every month for both my daughters for their education when they grow bigger … it is hard for me to set that apart but I have to for their better future.”

Sneha could not buy milk and hygiene supplies for her young baby, but the Child Survival Program provides them for her now. Mothers eat a nutritious diet at the program that consist of foods like rice, lentils, mixed vegetables and fish, eggs or meat.

Mothers meet at the center for their group activity three times during the week. Sneha has learned to keep herself clean. Though she lives in a house with a dirt floor, she is careful to keep it clean.

It is hard to live as a single mother in her community, as it is considered a social taboo. Many women look down on her. They don’t let their children mingle with Sneha’s children. But that has not stopped Sneha from sharing God’s goodness in her life with other women in her community. She has brought along many mothers to the Sunday service.

“It amazes me when I hear Sneha share the Scripture with other mothers both in the Child Survival Program and in her community knowing the trauma she went through in the past … she has come to the knowledge of God just recently and yet Sneha has the faith to say that God will take care of all her needs and circumstances, even if others forsake her,” says Sona, a CSP implementer.

Sneha leads the other mothers by example. She inspires them to win over their brokenness by sharing God’s love with them. The CSP staff can rely on Sneha with any work because they believe she is a smart and a fast learner.

“We have delegated Sneha to lead worship for the mothers during devotion at the center …. Sneha is forthcoming and ahead of the other mothers in every sphere of learning, be it tailoring, singing, organizing, generating awareness in her community and even praying for others,” tells Sona, a CSP implementer.

Today, Sneha witnesses God’s goodness through her life that has been transformed through the intervention of the Child Survival Program. The struggles she endured in the past help her to relate to the pain of other mothers both in the program and in her community.

Sneha is determined to bring up her two daughters with good values to show that girls can make a great contribution to society. God has turned her pain into a blessing that she uses as a tool to spread the message of God’s love.

Kancherapara Child Development Center and Child Survival Program is part of our Church to Church strategy.

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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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“It’s Christmas time, joy to the world! The rich and the poor will share,” says a popular Latin American Christmas carol.

Lights, colorful garlands and presents decorate Quito City, Ecuador. The wealthy families celebrate Christmas Eve with a table full of abundant and delicious delicacies and fantastic gifts around the tree. Others who aren’t so prosperous gather with less splendor but full of hope of sharing a modest but a deep-felt family celebration.

For many people in Ecuador, their Christmas dream is no broken families, no homeless children, no kids without a gift, and no parents crying for the lack of money to give a special celebration to their families. But their reality is different. While some people have fancy celebrations, others can do nothing but stare at shop windows and others even beg on the streets.

María lives in the La Victoria Alta neighborhood, a place with limited access to public transportation and public services. It is one hour away from Quito’s downtown area, a place where the cold weather is so intense that people feel chilled to the bone.

María is one of the hundreds of mothers who cry at Christmas time. She has three children and she can barely meet their basic needs, so she can’t even think about the possibility of getting her little kids presents for Christmas.

“It’s just sad … . We see that some people have enough money but we totally lack it.”

Sonia takes care of Erick, her 3-year-old nephew, while his mother is out working to sustain the family. Sonia has become a mother to her nephew and her heart aches every time she thinks about Christmas and the fact that neither she nor her sister will be able to give a present to Erick. No matter how hard they work, their home expenses surpass their incomes by far.

Evelyn, a mother of three, confesses, “I haven’t given a single present to my children in years.” Every day she’s weighed down with worry because of her financial situation, and the worries increase as Christmas time gets closer.

Families like María’s, Sonia’s and Evelyn’s, whose husbands left them or who don’t have a steady source of income, finish every year struggling to survive with the little they have. This is when Christmas sadly becomes an unhappy season full of pressure and colossal challenges that has nothing to do with what this time of the year is meant to represent.

Yet to the joy of many families whose mothers and babies are registered at the Child Survival Program (CSP) in the La Victoria Alta neighborhood, the heavy load of poverty – that constant lack of not only material goods but spiritual growth, too – has been relieved.

María, Sonia and Evelyn say that the Child Survival Program is their second home, a safe and warm place that’s always full of love and hope. These three mothers, along with more than 40 other moms and children from La Victoria Alta, are beneficiaries of the Child Survival Program and this past Christmas enjoyed an unexpected celebration like they never imagined.

Contests, prizes, toys, carols, plays and a special lunch were part of the Christmas party at the Child Survival Program. Some mothers performed an Andean folk dance, while others acted in a play to communicate the true gift of Christmas.

The party was a great opportunity to show the CSP mothers and children that they are loved, important and valued. Their little babies were the stars of the party.

Tons of colorful toys, chosen not only to bring fun to the children but to help them develop their motor skills, filled the courtyard at the CSP facilities.

Last month, María thought that she was about to go through another sad Christmas, but she was gladly surprised. They received a warm blanket, a toy car, and a doll to assemble.

Other children received gifts like balls, trains and play food. The toys were chosen by the CSP implementers to help the children with their physical and cognitive stimulation.

María’s daughter, Paola (33 months old), was “happy because this is the perfect gift for her.”

Evelyn enthusiastically watched as her son, Isaías, got his presents.

“He tore the box and took out the train … he opened the mesh and took out the ball, too. Now he’s running around playing with his brand new stuff.”

Elvia Vega, CSP Coordinator, says that the purpose of the Child Survival Program is to bring joy into the lives of mothers and children because “some kids have never received a single present.” The mothers registered at this neighborhood’s Child Survival Program “are women who don’t have any money, not even for food,” she emphasizes.

But the most transcendent point of the celebration was sharing the true meaning of this party. Within a commercialized world where money and social position are top priorities, the Child Survival Program emphasized the root of this season and the most important gift of all: Immanuel, God with us.

Vega affirms,

“These days most people think that many things are essential … but through the Christmas pageant we taught that there’s nothing more important than Jesus.”

Pastor Elicio Quinga witnessed the effort and dedication of the CSP personnel to give an unforgettable Christmas to the program’s participant mothers. María testified her deep gratitude with these words:

“Thank you so much, from the bottom of the heart. May God continue to bless you! The program’s support is fantastic, especially to me.”

All this is possible thanks to the Child Survival Program and your kind hearts. You may not see the expressions of excitement in the children’s faces or the tears of joy in the mothers’ eyes, but you have gave them a different Christmas in 2010.

You gave them the opportunity to experience the true love and the genuine bliss brought only by meeting the True Star of the Season – Jesus – and feeling the endless grace that comes from His heart.

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Gita would have had to walk 30 minutes to reach the hospital. But even if she made it in time, she couldn’t afford the bill. She felt she had no choice but to give birth at home. The only person who could help was her oldest sister, who was visiting her at that time.

Gita’s sister, who had experience in helping people give birth, prepared a razor blade, to cut the umbilical cord, and a bucket of cold water.

As Gita lay on her grass bed, her sister pressed Gita’s belly with both hands while Gita strained to deliver the child. Thankfully, Gita didn’t have to push too much.

After successfully delivering the child, Gita’s sister used the razor blade to cut the umbilical cord. Then she cleaned up Gita’s son by washing the baby with cold water and drying him with a towel. Gita took a bath with cold water to clean herself.

In this way, Gita delivered her first baby, Martin, at home without medical assistance. Her at-home delivery is typical among women in Indonesia’s Papua province.

Most Papuan women still give birth with traditional methods in a honai – a traditional Papuan house made of wood with a grass bed.

Women also prefer to give birth at home because they are afraid of the service from health workers who are not always friendly. Many women believe that it is more efficient to give birth at home alone or with help of someone who lives nearby.

Though these traditional methods of delivery have been going on for years, they are risky. Although some say no children in the area have died after a home birth, 2009 data from the Central Bureau of Statistics in Jayawijaya regency reveals that, since 2004, 167 babies have died after their mothers delivered them without medical assistance.

Numerous factors lead women to deliver their children at home. In Gita’s case, her husband is jobless. The family relies solely on what she earns working at a farm every day. (In Papuan culture, the responsibility of earning money often falls on the women.)

Since enrolling in the Child Survival Program (CSP), Gita now knows that giving birth at home without any medical assistance could put her and her baby’s lives at risk. This woman, who only reached the first year of senior high school, has now learned how to safely deliver her baby. She’s learned that she has to check her pregnancy regularly, to recognize contractions, and the importance of using clean instruments during delivery.

“We taught them to understand the danger of delivering at home and the benefit of giving birth with medical assistance.

“Registered mothers at first didn’t have a good understanding about pregnancy and how they can give birth safely. It was very hard to change their paradigm about how to deliver in an appropriate way.

“They still believe that delivering the baby in the honai will not put their self in risk. They also thought it is more efficient than if they have to see the doctor to help them deliver their baby.

“Pregnant mothers now know that they have to protect their pregnancy in a good way. They learn to show their love by taking care of their pregnancy,” explains Antonetta, the CSP coordinator.

Gita, who is now pregnant with her second child, passes on the blessing of Compassion to other women. She loves to share her pregnancy experience with other mothers who haven’t had the opportunity to join the program. She wants to make a positive impact on mothers so they can they safely deliver their babies.

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The 21st century has witnessed a great rise in development around the world. Communications and scientific research are developing at a rapid pace. The world is moving toward great change in culture and lifestyle. Gender equality is becoming common in many places, and girls are achieving heights once thought not possible.

However, even as the world is moving toward progress, the age-old social evil of female infanticide still shows its ugly face in developing countries such as India.

The prevalence of female infanticide in Chellampatty, Madurai, is heartbreaking. No efforts to curb this social evil have succeeded thus far.

However, our Child Survival Program (CSP) has become a powerful instrument of God to change, eradicate and reduce the prevalence of female infanticide and feoticide in this society through adequate postnatal care and effective child development. One particular Child Survival Program doing this is aptly named “Mercy.”

Female infanticide is the intentional killing of girl babies. Even in modern India, some parents long for a male child rather than a female. As a result, they adopt different methods to get rid of baby girls soon after they are born.

Parents normally do not kill the first or second girl child. But the third female child born in the family often is killed. Villagers use every available means to kill an unwanted girl child.

Some babies are given cactus milk that acts as a poison; hot chicken soup is poured into the baby’s mouth; babies are made to lie down on wet sack cloth, and unable to bear the wetness the babies die of fits; at the time of delivery, as the baby comes out from the mother’s womb, the nose and mouth of the baby is deliberately closed for some time until it dies of suffocation, and so on.

The motive behind such a practice is the dowry system, which requires that a bride’s family pay out a great deal of money or property when a female child is married. Thus, for poor families, the birth of a girl child is seen as the beginning of financial downfall and extreme poverty. Also, a family without a male child is considered to be a family without an inheritance.

No sooner than a girl child is born, the parents begin to save money exclusively for the girl to prepare for the large sum of money that has to be spent on her as she grows up.

During puberty, a great feast is traditionally held, inviting friends and relatives. The purpose is to declare that their girl child is fit for marriage. The parents spend a lot of money for this event.

When giving her in marriage, a large sum of money has to be spent again for a dowry. Most often the dowry demanded is much above what the family can afford. As a result, to get their daughter married, parents are forced to borrow the amount, and they have to spend the rest of their lives repaying the amount borrowed.

And the cost of a daughter isn’t over with marriage. The parents are expected to continue spending for their girl child. During the eighth month of their daughter’s pregnancy, they are to hold a grand event, and the first delivery expenses have to be taken care of by them.

The parents are to put ornaments of gold on their grandchild when he or she is born, and they have to bear the expenses of an ear-piercing ceremony, another grand event to which all friends and relatives are invited. Nearly $1,000 to $2,200 is spent on average.

Moreover, whenever there is a death in the family of the girl’s husband, the entire funeral expenses have to be borne by the girl’s parents.

Because of these many financial obligations invited by a birth of a girl child, very little attention is given to girls in the family. They are considered a burden.

Recognizing the need in this area, the staff at the Mercy Child Survival Program are working to save the lives of innocent girl babies.

Initially, they identify pregnant mothers and their families and begin counseling them. The women are encouraged to accept the birth of a girl child. Awareness classes are conducted on various issues, such as family planning, reproduction, child birth, abortion, types of delivery, immunization, communicable diseases and child marriage.

Ramaye and Lakshmi

But beyond advocacy for the babies, there are numerous occasions wherein the staff have intervened and saved the life of a girl child.

A woman named Pandeswari gave birth to twin girls, Ramaye and Lakshmi. Her husband, Muniyandi, works as a sweeper. Pandeswari had one daughter already, so the birth of twin girls disappointed them.

Although determining the gender of a baby before birth is illegal in India, in their town it is still secretly done. As a result, the moment parents come to know it is a girl child, the child is aborted.

In this case, the family wanted to abort the twins in the womb. However, the Child Survival Program staff closely watched over them, counseled them, and protected the babies.

One day, when the Child Survival Program meeting was going on, Kanamma, Pandeswari’s mother-in-law, came to the meeting with her two newborn granddaughters and laid them on the floor. One baby weighed under two pounds and the other weighed 2 1/4 pounds.

Kannamma said very openly to the staff at the Child Survival Program,

“We can’t take care of these two children. If you want to save the children, please help us; otherwise we don’t mind killing them.”

Both babies were enrolled in the Child Survival Program. And now, the girls are in the child sponsorship program.

Amudha with her family

Yet another instance involves a mother called Amudha. She had two daughters. When she conceived for the third time, everyone eagerly expected her to give birth to a boy child. However, even the third time, she bore a girl.

This disappointed everyone in that family as well as in the village. Everybody advised her to kill the baby and wait for another child who might be a boy.

At that time a CSP staff member intervened and counseled the mother and father that female infanticide is a social evil. The family was also promised help through the Child Survival Program.

Now this child, Swathi, is five years old. She is a Compassion-sponsored child.

Another mother who was helped is Radhika. She has two daughters named Adhisaya and Lavanya. When the first daughter was born, the father was not happy.

The second time a daughter was born, Radhika went through several struggles. There were lots of fights and quarreling among the family.

When Radhika conceived for the third time, she moved to her mother’s place in the third month of her pregnancy, fearing that her husband and her in-laws would kill the baby in the womb.

Radhika with her youngest daughter

Radhika’s baby was born and she had another girl, now 20 months old. However, Radhika’s husband has not come to take her back home or to even look at his child.

Her husband says, “I don’t need the girl child.”

The Child Survival Program provides constant support to the little child. All of Radhika’s daughters are with her now. They have lost the love of their father, and because of it, at times Radhika felt that she would end her life.

However, due to the encouragement and support provided by the CSP staff, Radhika and her children have a new lease on life.

Had it not been for the Child Survival Program and your support, today you would find children like Ramaye, Lakshmi and Swathi only in the grave.

The staff of the Mercy Child Survival Program

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Names are important. They have power. They define us.

They’re more than a bunch of letters grouped together to sound pleasant to the ear. Names are more than a convenience allowing us to talk to each other. Names are a gift from God. They contain His power. They define things. They define us.

“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” – Proverbs 22:1 (NIV)

God said, “Let there be light.” And there was. He named it into existence.

God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” And there was. He called it sky. And He called the dry ground land.

From that land, God made man. He made Adam (Earth). Then God gave the power to name to Adam.

Adam named the animals. And he named Eve (Mother of All). And that power has been given to us.

Consider the freedom that comes in naming a fear you have, or the cause of shame you hide, or the root of anger strangling you. When I own my fears, say them out loud, identify them, then I loosen the controlling grip they have over me. That’s power. That’s the power of a name.

When I was born, my mother gave me a name — Christopher. It means Christ-bearer. My Father gave me a name too. It’s a bit different. It came later in my life. It’s my “true name,” the name He calls me. And it’s a name I’m still trying to grow into — Love Giver and Teacher.

When God gave me a name, like He did with Abraham, Sarah and Jacob, He said to me,

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” — Ephesians 5:8 (NIV)

When God gave me my name, He said I am a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come. God’s Word is helping me to understand my name. It tells me to surrender self, to imitate God, and to live a life of love.

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” — Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)”

I recently saw a story from eastern Indonesia about a mother in our Child Survival Program (CSP) that highlights the significance of a name. This mother, Yudea, is 21 years old and has been part of the CSP for three years. She has two children.

Before enrolling in the CSP, Yudea “didn’t know the importance of having a healthy environment. She didn’t know the benefit of boiling water before drinking it, or washing hands before touching meals. She never asked her children to take a bath or wash their hands and feet after they play. She didn’t know that if someone doesn’t clean up his or her body, he or she can get sick easily.”

When Yudea gave birth to her first child, “she couldn’t buy milk or vitamins to boost her daughters health, so her daughter got sick easily.” After enrolling in the CSP, this changed.

“She received nutritious food, vitamins, milk and a lot of information that supported her as a pregnant mother. She also was able to go to regular pregnancy checkups at the doctor without having to think twice about what she and her husband would have to pay.

“After giving birth to a healthy child, Yudea showed her thankfulness to God by naming her son Cisipi . . . Cisipi regularly receives additional food, vitamins, milk and other programs that are essential to healthy growth. Cisipi doesn’t get sick easily, like other children in his neighborhood.

“As Cisipi plays with friends his same age, Cisipi looks different. He is more active than the other children. When other children don’t have extra energy to run around, Cisipi can run everywhere without feeling tired at all. Cisipi is a fast learner and he loves to ask his mother questions.”

Cisipi is the acronym of our Child Survival Program (CSP), with an “i” added between each letter. The name means “grateful to God.”

“It is a form of my gratitude because the CSP has made my son grow as a healthy and smart child.”

Names are important. They contain meaning. They define who we are. And usually we’re not who we think we are.

What does Compassion’s name mean to you? Is it a good name

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This is the home of Amina, a toddler enrolled in the local Child Survival Program (CSP). At the back of the homestead lies waste from the nearby kitchen. On the other side of the home are thick bushes of indigenous trees.

As the CSP specialist visited the mother, mosquito bites could be noted on the face of the child. Throughout the session, the TEEEE! TEEEE! sound of mosquitoes could be heard.

In some countries, mosquitoes are just nuisance, but in Riaciina, mosquitoes pose a deadly threat. Mosquito-borne malaria is the major killer disease in the area.

Riaciina village lies in the semi-arid part of Kenya on the extreme southern slopes of the largest mountain in Kenya, Mount Kirinyaga. The occupants are mainly the Ambeere and the Akaamba people whose primary work is farming and fishing.

On the lower side of the community lies the River Tana, the longest river in Kenya. The areas surrounding the river are dumpy and bushy – a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The infestation of the parasites is especially heavy along the riverbanks during rainy season.

Community members cannot escape the mosquitoes, as this is their only water source. Poor sanitation and disposal of kitchen wastes has also increased the mosquito breeding areas. The area has high maternal and infant mortality rates due to malaria-related complications.

According to a report from a nearby dispensary, an estimated 11 percent of mothers die before childbirth, while about 20 percent of children die before 5 years of age due to severe malaria. Lack of adequate food due to poverty, especially during the dry season, and malnutrition have led to low immunity. A survey by the local health officials shows that there has been an increase in the number of malaria cases and deaths reported in the previous year.

The living standard of the community members is low. Many children rarely attend school and the majority of adults are illiterate. Over 70 percent of the entire adult population is jobless. Those who find casual jobs bring home an average of $1.25 per day. This amount of money cannot provide for a large family’s daily meal.

An average mosquito net, which can greatly reduce cases of malaria, costs $3.25. The caregivers cannot afford to buy mosquito nets for all their children.

AIDS is also on the rise in the community. The pandemic has left many children either homeless or under the care of their aged grandparents. These children are exposed to malaria infection since the poor caregivers either cannot afford or have no knowledge of the importance of using insecticide treated mosquito nets (ITNS). Due to their illiteracy, the caregivers have no basic knowledge on malaria preventive measures either.

More than 50 percent of the malaria-associated deaths in the region are the result of less effective antimalarial drugs, poor management and improper diagnosis, and lack of knowledge by the primary caregivers on the importance of early disease interventions.

Some villagers use indigenous plants to create herbal remedies for the treatment of malaria. The herbs and leaves are boiled to form a colored liquor. They have no knowledge on actual dosages; therefore, most of those using the drug are referred to main hospitals with complicated severe malaria. Those who cannot afford transport to main hospitals die as a result.

In 2008, little Amina was admitted to the hospital twice with severe malaria. As a Compassion-assisted child, she was able to receive much-needed treatment and her medical bills were covered by the program. Through malaria education, provision of mosquito nets and removal of the nearby bushes, the child is now healthy and free from malaria.

Tragically, Amina’s sister was not so fortunate.

In 2007, Amina’s elder sister Joyce was 3 years old when she contracted malaria. Joyce had been running a fever and was very weak. Her mother, Agnes, took her to a nearby dispensary. The child was unconscious; her body temperature was high and she had severe febrile convulsions.

According to Agnes, Joyce’s initial treatment was a traditionally prepared herbal remedy that lacked exact doses. Agnes collected herbs and administered them to her daughter without knowing that it would be the last time little Joyce would ever drink the herbal medicine.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO)’s guidelines for the integrated management of childhood illnesses, the child had severe malaria and therefore required urgent referral to a hospital. The family could not afford transport to the far distant hospital. The nearby Kenyan dispensary lacked facilities, so the helpless child died in the hands of her heartbroken mother.

This is one of the many stories in which children die of a disease that could otherwise have been prevented. Despite the tragic loss of her older daughter Joyce, Agnes is grateful that Amina is growing strong and no longer attacked by malaria.

The difference in Amina’s case was the presence of Compassion.

Our CSP staff members work tirelessly, in line with the local health officials, to ensure that the mosquito-breeding places are eradicated. Compassion strives towards this goal so that no other mothers suffer the loss of a child, as Agnes did.

The education by CSP staff on the importance of clearing the nearby bushes, use of treated mosquito nets (ITNS), use of insecticides and early interventions has made progress in reducing malaria in the region. In addition to families enrolled in the Child Survival Program, this information has also been passed to other community members.

During the CSP home-based trainings, the visiting neighbors are never left out. The use of compost pits as advocated by CSP has ensured proper disposal of kitchen waste, minimizing the number of mosquito breeding areas.

The CSP training on malaria is also extended to the pregnant mothers. Malaria is a deadly disease that has severe effects on the growing fetus. Mothers severely hit by the disease have low birth weight babies or even stillbirths as associated with plasmodia in the placenta.

Since malaria has become resistant to most of the common drugs, the government has introduced other strong antimalarial drugs. The drugs are quite efficient in the control of the disease, but are rarely affordable. The use of a sulfur drug (fansidar) during pregnancy has reduced the number of malaria cases among the CSP pregnant mothers.

Our Child Survival Program has changed the lifestyles of many families in Riaciina. A survey by the CSP staff at the end of 2009 showed that:

• More than 90 percent of the community members had compost pits where kitchen wastes are deposited and burned.
• The training on modern methods of farming has led to proper utilization of the available land; most of the bushes where mosquitoes once thrived are now cleared.
• The malaria morbidity and mortality rate among children under 5 years old is now going down progressively.

Malaria has plagued humankind since ancient times and is still a significant threat to half of the world’s population; 3.3 billion people living in 109 countries are at risk of contracting the disease. Estimates suggest that malaria afflicts between 350 and 500 million people every year. In addition, as many as 30,000 visitors to tropical countries are infected annually.

April 25 is a day of unified commemoration of the global effort to provide effective control of malaria around the world. This year’s World Malaria Day marks a critical moment in time. The international malaria community has less than a year to meet the 2010 targets of delivering effective and affordable protection and treatment to all people at risk of malaria, as called for by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon.

(Excerpt from rollbackmalaria.org)

- Counting Malaria Out: World Malaria Day 2010 Resources

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Our Child Survival Program helps fight the infant mortality problem plaguing these vulnerable children.

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Make a donation to Compassion International through our Facebook Cause.

The 2009 America’s Giving Challenge has begun, and through the Giving Challenge, the Case Foundation will give away a total of $170,000 in daily and overall prizes to non-profits over the next month.

America’s Giving Challenge offers Compassion a great opportunity to demonstrate the worthiness of using social media in pursuit of our mission, and it offers you a chance to make a significant difference on behalf of that mission:

In response to the Great Commission, Compassion International exists as an advocate for children, to release them from their spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults.

America’s Giving Challenge – How Does It Work?

• The Giving Challenge runs from Oct. 7 at 3 p.m. ET to Nov. 6, 2009 at 3 p.m. ET.
• Each day the Case Foundation will award a prize to the cause that has the most individual donors* on that day, not the most money raised.
• $1,000 each day to the cause with the most unique donations that day.
• $500 each day to the cause with the second most unique donations that day.
• At the end of the Giving Challenge, the Case Foundation will award prizes to the causes that have the most individual donors throughout the entire Giving Challenge.
• $50,000 to the cause with the highest number of unique daily donations over the 30 days.
• $25,000 to the cause with the second highest number of unique daily donations over the 30 days.
• $10,000 each to the next five causes with the highest number of unique daily donations over the 30 days.
• Donations must be made to a cause using the Causes application on Facebook, but anyone can donate – even someone without a Facebook account.
• The minimum donation is $10.

America’s Giving Challenge – How You Can Support Compassion International

1. Make a donation to Compassion International through our Facebook Cause.
• Donating $10 once a day over five days has a greater impact in the contest than donating $50 on one day.
2. Tell your family and friends about America’s Giving Challenge, and ask them to donate to Compassion International through our Facebook Cause; the URL is http://www.causes.com/compassion.
   • Use all the technology and communication methods you have at your disposal (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, text, phone, e-mail, word of mouth, etc.)
3. Add the Compassion and America’s Giving Challenge application to your Facebook profile.

Because success is measured by the total number of individual donors, the key is to motivate as many people as possible to donate once, have them get as many people as possible to donate once, and then have those people get as many people as possible to continue the cycle.

We anticipate the competition during America’s Giving Challenge to be extremely tough, so getting out of the gates quickly will also be important. Mobilize early before other organizations have a chance to get up to speed.

As we get more information, ideas and tools that could assist you, we’ll definitely share it all with you.

Thank you for supporting our mission to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name and for supporting our mission during America’s Giving Challenge. Any prizes we win will be used for the benefit of our Child Survival Program.

Please use this post as your forum for questions and to let others know what you’re doing (e.g., what’s working and what’s not). We’ll post updates here as well.

*Multiple donations to the our Cause by the same person in the same day won’t be counted in the total number of unique donors, but contributions by the same person on different days will be counted. A day runs from 3 p.m. ET to 3 p.m ET.

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The Child Survival Program in a tiny village in India may not be vastly different from hundreds of other Compassion centers around the world, but to this community it is a powerful, unique and tangible demonstration of God’s provision and an essential lifeline for mothers and their children.

Villagers speak the Bhil language, which has no written form. They are classified as tribals by the government. They remain close-knit and marry only within their community. They worship animistic spirits and believe sickness represents the spirits’ anger toward the people. Major illnesses are ignored by the family, and the sick family member is left to die without any medical help. But many ailments are simply the result of insufficient food and malnutrition.

The village is a primitive agricultural community with no clean water, no sanitation, no electricity, no streets, no medical facilities and no modern transportation. Abuse of arrack, their home-made alcohol, is commonplace. Understanding and practicing hygiene is absent from local customs. To discourage theft, a family’s animals are brought indoors at night to share the living quarters, contributing to a dangerous health environment for the entire family.

Yet in this desperate corner of India, God is moving through the Child Survival Program. Program workers take the village women to a nearby hospital for regular prenatal and postnatal medical checkups. Most pregnant women in the project are anemic and underweight, so the program additionally provides iron tablets, tonics and calcium tablets, and pays the medical expenses.

Hepshiben Parmar, the Child Survival Program coordinator, elaborates on their duties.

“Twice in a month we monitor the growth of fetus as well as the development of children. I am a qualified nurse and Mrs. Swetha, our Implementer, a qualified nurse trained to check the fetal heartbeat. If we find any variation from the normal level, immediately we take the mother to the hospital for further treatment. In spite of this, some miscarriages have taken place because pregnant women are forced to do heavy work in the fields.”

Demonstrating the powerful love of God by serving the village families is the heart of the Child Survival Program’s mission.

“We pray before food distribution. When we go on a house visit we pray for the respective child. We teach them the importance of the true God and knowing God personally. We teach them how the love of God leads us to help others.

“The Child Survival Program deals with the most difficult and sensitive issues in this tribal area where many social evils are still rampant. In a community where giving birth to a girl child is considered a bane and where child care is negligent and taken for granted, the Child Survival Program’s role is laudable and paving a way for healthy living and a prosperous community.”

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