Page 34 - PC Issue 14 Summer 2020

Connection
PRESBYTERIAN WORLD SERVICE & DEVELOPMENT
Maternal Health Today and Tomorrow
34
PRESBYTERIAN
SUMMER 2020
presbyterian.ca
By Karen Bokma, PWS&D Communications
Ainafe Gordon knew things would be different with her most recent preg- nancy. For several years, volunteers in her community have been travelling from home to home, sharing impor- tant information for new and expecting mothers. This was the 30-year-old’s third pregnancy and while nothing had gone wrong with the first two, she knew things could have been better.
This time was already different be- cause Ainafe and her husband had planned it. With simple and efficient access to bir th control provided by local community-based distribution agents, she and her husband were able to plan to have their next baby when their family would be able to best care for her.
Spacing out the births of her chil- dren meant Ainafe was able to invest more time in her family’s farm and star t a small business selling vegeta- bles. She could nurse her baby longer because she didn’t get pregnant so quickly after giving birth. She and her husband were better able to suppor t their family and meet their nutritional and health needs.
Once pregnant, Ainafe received a
A young woman who is part of a peer education project stands with her mother at the family’s market stall in Managua. CREDIT: REV. LAURA HARGROVE.
By the Rev. Laura Hargrove, PWS&D committee member and teaching elder at First Presbyterian Church in Brandon, Man.
In November 2019, after the end of the rainy season, I accompanied John Popiel, PWS&D’s program coordina- tor for Latin America and the Carib- bean, on a monitoring visit to Nicara- gua. While I have travelled a fair bit, I had mostly been to the developed
lot of support from her community. Village safe motherhood committees, care groups and male motivators were just some of the pieces in place to suppor t expectant parents.
Ainafe was encouraged to get fre- quent antenatal checkups with trained staff at health facilities. Her husband, encouraged by male motivators, ac- companied her to these visits, which was a real change from her previous pregnancies. At the checkups, Ainafe received vitamins and health moni- toring. Lessons on nutrition, kitchen gardens and cooking demonstrations allowed the family to improve and di- versify their diet.
When it was time to deliver her baby, Ainafe and her husband felt as prepared as they could be. Unexpect- edly, the baby had to be delivered by C-section, but because the safe moth- erhood committee and village leader- ship had instituted penalties for people not delivering at health facilities, Ain- afe was in a place that was able to of- fer her the medical help she required.
Since baby Shalom was born, Ain- afe continues to be supported by the project. Attending frequent health clin- ics, Shalom receives recommended vaccinations and her growth is moni- tored. If a baby isn’t growing as it
Health workers educate and provide services to mothers and their children at mobile health clinics.
Youth lead and educate on sexual and reproductive health through songs and plays.
Ainafe Gordon and her three-month old baby Shalom have received support through PWS&D’s maternal and child health project.
ing in a house crowded with com- munity volunteers, village chief Elijah Elizeo expressed the sentiment best. “This project has done a lot to fill a gap. We’re singing a different song here now about maternal deaths. Even as the project ends, you’ll remain with us because what you did in this village will stay and continue. We realize that what we are doing is for the benefit of this community, future generations and the nation of Malawi.”
should, nutritional supplements are provided.
“I appreciate how this project has assisted me, but also so many in the community. Without it my fam- ily would not be in the position it is. Things are different now,” shared Ain- afe when reflecting on how things in her village have changed for pregnant women and their babies.
Malawi—with one of the high- est maternal mortality rates in the world—experienced 439 maternal deaths per 100,000 in 2015 (per UNICEF), as compared to eight ma- ternal deaths per 100,000 in Canada.
In response, PWS&D began the second phase of a maternal, new- born and child health project in 2016. Implemented in both Malawi and Af- ghanistan, with generous suppor t from the Government of Canada, al- most 175,000 people will benefit by the time it concludes this year.
The project has worked to reduce maternal and child mortality through improving health services and en-
couraging their use; increasing the consumption of nutritious foods for mothers, newborns, pregnant women and children under five; and sharing necessary knowledge and informa- tion about maternal and child health practices.
The change created is significant and will be long-lasting. With the pro- ject coming to a close, sustainability is top of mind for community leaders and volunteers, as well as those who have benefited more directly.
Construction and improvement of labour and delivery wards will foster long-term change. Village systems and structures created to support expectant and new mothers and their babies will be sustained by the collec- tive will of those who have seen the change that is possible when eve- ryone works with a common goal. More than anything, communities are inspired to continue the work beyond the project because they know it is making a difference.
On a recent monitoring visit, stand-
Hope and Resilience in Nicaragua
world. This was my first visit to Cen- tral America. It was also my first visit to a region where the political situation had been so recently unsettled.
Nicaragua had a revolution in the late 1970s, but there have been more recent protests with severe govern- ment repression. These things have an impact on the economy—not only does it keep tourists away, but many people in opposition to the govern- ment were killed, had disappeared or fled the country. There had been a high level of unemployment in the years prior to our visit. In addition, Central America is seismically active with many volcanoes and frequent ear thquakes. All of these things affect the lives of the poor.
PWS&D works in many places around the world through local or regional par tner organizations to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. When we work with others, our ability to impact people in
need is multiplied. We benefit greatly from our partner’s local knowledge, but we don’t get to see the projects we support every day. Monitoring visits are an impor tant aspect of PWS&D’s work, both for assessing how a pro- ject is unfolding and for building and maintaining relationships with our par tners.
One of the projects was in the dry region working with small-scale farm- ers to improve soil and water con- servation and increase crop diversity. Community members learned about nutrition, soil and water management, small business and marketing, as well as human rights, and sexual and re- productive health. By developing local leaders and empowering the entire vil- lage, knowledge spread broadly within the community.
The other two projects we visited are based in the capital city, Managua. A peer-to-peer empowerment pro- ject teaches sexual and reproductive
health, human rights, safety and nu- trition to youth associated with some of the large open-air markets. Political strife in Nicaragua since 2018 has impacted the economy, leaving many financially insecure and their children more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. The youth we met had benefit- ed greatly from the project, evidenced by their self-confidence and knowl- edge about what they have learned.
The third project benefits teen moth- ers in a neighbourhood based around one of the Managua city dumps. The project provides nutrition education to improve maternal and child health— the women learn about their rights and responsibilities, reproductive health and child development. In talking with the mothers, it was delightful to watch the face of one mom as she realized her toddler, since joining the project, was bigger and stronger, walking and talking earlier than an older child had.
Each of our par tner organizations
A woman prepares nutritionally diverse foods she learned about through a PWS&D-supported project. CREDIT: REV. LAURA HARGROVE.
clearly makes a connection between the work they do among the impov- erished, to educate and empower, and their own calling as Christians. Through them, we are able to reach out to the world’s disadvantaged in Jesus’ name, empowering them to realize their value as human beings.