New wells mean health in Madagascar
January 26, 2012Ten new wells in a village in Madagascar are already making a difference in the health of the community. Recently, Daniel Turk, PC(USA) co-worker in Madagascar, attended a celebration to inaugurate the new wells which were installed through a community program sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), our partners in that country. Daniel reports that “the incidence of diarrhea in the community has plummeted” since the wells were installed. Diarrhea is one of the four leading causes of death of children under five in Madagascar.
In the past two and a half years, polit...read more >>
As Haiti marks second anniversary of tragic earthquake
MBF updates progress in assistance to Haiti
January 12, 2012
Two years ago today, Haiti experienced a 7.0 earthquake that lasted only ten to 20 seconds, but toppled homes and businesses and killed some 300,000 people. More than 1.5 million were left homeless.
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Embangweni Hospital vehicles back in service, thanks to MBF funds
January 10, 2012The wail of an ambulance siren is familiar to our ears here in America. In rural Malawi, Africa, where Embangweni Hospital is located, an ambulance is not something to be taken for granted. An ambulance means that a seriously injured child gets to the hospital in time to save his life. It means that a mother delivers a healthy baby and does not die during a difficult childbirth.
For the past 3 months, Embangweni’s ambulance, as well as it’s maintenance vehicles, have been out of service, some of them for more than a year. The hospital simply had no funds to purchase tires and other part...read more >>
Church helps Kenya Hospital solve serious problem
January 2, 2012For years, Tumutumu Hospital in Kenya has been trying to solve a health hazard caused by wastewater from the hospital overflowing to surrounding farms and sometimes washing down a river used by Kenyans for drinking water. Early in 2001, South Highland Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama heard about the situation and began a campaign to not only raise funds for the project, but to study the situation and help Tumutumu find the best solution.
They began with an evaluation of the volume of waste needing to be treated and other important issues involved. An engineer visited the hospital and found a te...read more >>
Two sets of triplets born at Nkhoma Hospital in Malawi
As hospital cites critical need for Maternity Ward space and nurses
December 12, 2011
Two sets of triplets are doing well after their birth in the premature room at Nkhoma Hospital in Malawi. Dr. Barbara Nagy, PC(USA) medical co-worker at the hospital says, “One of the moms passed away just after birth and several of the staff really exerted remarkable efforts to keep these little triplets alive.”
Since the triplets were born in a room with 54 other babies—a room designed for only four mothers and their babies—this was remarkable, especially because the babies were kept alive by a staff already exhausted because of the critical need for nurses at the hospita...read more >>
The Good News and the Bad News:
From Good Shepherd Hospital in DR Congo
Decmber 1, 2011The Good News: Doctors at Good Shepherd Hospital in DR Congo were able to perform a specialized surgery on Kasawa, a young boy with a rare intestinal disease. He and his mother and brother walked 155 miles to reach the hospital, the only one in central Congo that could perform this operation.
The Bad News: Dr. John Fletcher, PC(USA) co-worker at the hospital (pictured here preparing for surgery) says that while “we have the ability and special equipment to do these more advanced types of cases, the bad news is that we are often unable, due to financial constraints and shortages of essential basics,...read more >>
Medical co-Workers in Bangladesh request prayer for village children
November 15, 2011Two-year-old Ranatos is not playing with the children in his village in northwest Bangladesh. He is not sitting on the floor at home, waiting for his mother to finish preparing the evening meal. He hasn’t cried for several days. That’s because Ranatos is lying in a hospital bed in a coma, struggling for his life.
Several days ago, Ranatos became ill with bacterial meningitis. Treatment was delayed and Ranatos lapsed into a coma before he could be taken to a hospital.
Anita is six years old and too weak to join activities of the other children in her village in Bangladesh. Anit...read more >>
MBF gift helps keep Malawi hospital running at critical time
November 3, 2011Nkhoma Hospital in Malawi, one of MBF/PC(USA)’s partner hospitals, had been without power for sixteen hours when they received word of a funding gift from the Medical Benevolence Foundation.
“Thank you so, so much,” writes David Morton, the deputy Medical Director of the hospital. “This comes at a critical time for us.”
It’s a critical time for all of Malawi. The state-owned Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi Ltd. (ESCOM) already had power cuts in place when a storm this week blew down the main electrical wires from the nearest town to the hospita...read more >>
Baby found in Malawi graveyard has new home
October 24, 2011When Aaron was born in Mzuzu, Malawi, his mother found she could not face caring for him. She dropped him in a bush in a graveyard where someone heard him cry and took him to the Ministry of Hope’s Mzuzu Crisis Nursery. He was covered with ant bites and his arm had been injured as he fell to the ground. To protect Aaron and the other babies from possible infections, the nursery put him in isolation where his bites and injured arm were cared for.
After Aaron’s time in isolation, he began thriving at the crisis nursery. During that time, his mother decided that she wanted him back....read more >>
South Sudan refugees experience Community Health Evangelism
October 3, 2011You’re a refugee from the volatile border area between North and South Sudan. You hear that you might find a job down near Juba, so you pack up your wife and two-year-old daughter and start out. You have traveled as far as Malakal, with 400 miles yet to go, when your wife becomes very ill. You find a place for the three of you to stay and stand by helplessly as your wife’s pains become worse. Your money is almost gone. What will you feed your little daughter and where will you find help for your wife?
Nearby, at the Giffen Institute of Theology, PC(USA) co-workers Jacob and Aliamma George are ...read more >>
