13,200 Birthing Kits for mothers in isolated areas

Dear donor, In the past 3 months, we have started scaling-up our birthing kits support.So far we have supported 2,700 pregnant women in isolated areas.

We worked in the following locations:

1) Rural health centers (836 Kits). These are centers were the average pregnant woman will have it difficult to pay for the material costs associated with delivery, the kit acts like a subsidized fee. Also, given the remote nature of these locations, even if they had the resources, sometimes the appropriate materials are not in stock.

2) In Bakassi, directly with pregnant women (1264 Kits): Bakassi is a peninsula between Cameroon and Nigeria. In the past decades, it was the scenario of an armed conflict between the two countries, and the aftermath of the conflict is still felt in this highly impoverished area. Fishing communities survive in isolation in Bakassi, with very difficult or no connection to the mainland. There, poverty and isolation make it particularly difficult to access these materials. Also, many of the villages don’t have easy access to a health center. We gave the kits to pregnant women to ensure that even if they have to give birth in their village with a Birth Attendant, they will do it in clean conditions.

3) Lastly, more and more, we are focusing our attention on internally displaced women (600 kits). There is a violent conflict between separatist movements and the government. 246.000 people have been internally displaced in the South-West Region in the past few months, and we are one of the few organizations working on the ground. Among those 246,000 it’s estimated about 3 quarters are in the forest. The villages and towns are dangerous or blocked for many of them, so they prefer to flee the villages towards their farming areas and forests, where they have built small settlements. There, their living conditions are difficult, especially for pregnant women. Some have lost their babies or their own lives due to poor delivery and living conditions. These kits will help them give birth in clean conditions and ensure the process is a bit easier for them.

As you can see, you are making a great difference. 

However, we are anticipating we won’t be able to deliver 13,200 kits as planned. This is because we did not meet our funding goal and because transportation to the settlements where displaced persons are has become very risky, complicated and expensive. We have created another project to support our activities for pregnant women, and you can check it out here.

We are very happy to announce that we just secured a partnership with Vitamin Angels. Alongside birthing kits for the time of delivery, our beneficiaries will now be receiving a bottle of multivitamins, to ensure they are strong during gestation and delivery, and their babies are born strong too. This will add to our current partnership with Birthing Kits Australia, who provide the kits so we only need to cover (with your donations) transportation expenditures.

Moreover, we also began working with the Ministry of Public Health. Government health workers no longer work in the conflict area, because they could be attacked. But we are still there. They have provided us with medication for pregnant women to prevent and treat malaria.

We hope you are happy with your donation,

Thank you for saving lives!

P.D: We have not been able to take pictures of displaced persons because we could put them at risk. The mothers you see are working with us in other projects.

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