Santhosh and I were blessed to attend this year’s Global Missions Health Conference in Kentucky. While there we connected with other organizations, relief agencies, ministries working to expand the Kingdom by their service. We met people from Kenya and listened to their stories. We have always been told that the northern region of Kenya has little to no health care services at all. We could not imagine what was happening to the children born there with craniofacial differences. What has become of their lives?
One young woman, Michelle, from Hope Matters International shared her story. As a nurse practitioner, when she first arrived in Kenya, she was placed in the labor and delivery room to assist the physicians and midwives. Because of the lack of resources and finances, the clinics were ill-equipped to deal at full force with a new life entering the world. For those newborns who were not breathing on their own, and who remained blue due to lack of oxygen, Michelle was instructed to turn from the baby and focus her strength on saving the mother. The baby would not survive, and there was no incubator or respirator to help in any case.
Our hearts were broken to hear this. I remember immediately after Philip’s delivery, he was suctioned and his breathing reflex kicked in. If a baby like him was born in Kenya, he would drown in his own secretions.
Friends, we cannot pretend ignorance on the need any longer. How many children like Philip are being born every year in Kenya, and never open their eyes to the light? Per the Healthy Newborn Network, 39% of Kenyan newborns die of congenital abnormalities and pre term complications.
Santhosh was able to visit Nairobi, Kenya in November to meet leaders and see the hospitals. God willing in 2018, LWR will return and join the efforts to bring the newborn mortality rate down in Kenya. You may not be able to come to Kenya yourself, but you can send LWR. Partner with us! We must continue the work, Until The World Is Cleft-Free! Susan filed under: Blogs