$250 raised from Soy Candles helps Maternity Services in the Congo
January 14, 2009 · → No Comments - Make Comment
January 2009
Those of you who purchased Candles from Zulu’s Candles for Community at the end of 2008 will be pleased to know that over $250 was raised – with $1.50 from each candle pack sold donated to Lucy Hobgood Brown and Handup Congo.
Others also donated directly to Lucy – and we THANK YOU for your support and generosity with helping us raise awareness for HandUp Congo and contributed to community projects in this very troubled country.
SUPPORTING MATERNITY SERVICES IN THE CONGO – LUCY’S REPORT
As you know Sue, I was born in the Congo and my father was also born and raised in Lotumbe.
I return at least every 18 months to work on a range of capacity building projects with a Congolese women’s NGO. This community based organisation focuses on women and children, and provides such basic necessities as insecticide treated mosquito nets, new baby outfits and free pre-natal checks for women who give birth at the hospital (or in canoes!). The NGO makes a huge difference to infant survival rates, reports Lucy, adding, “Mum and babies are doing well.”
Birth on the river - woman gives birth to twins in a canoe in the Congo
You will be pleased to know that the funds raised through Zulu’s Community will go towards Lotumbe’s maternity ward.
Located in a remote village more than 200 km from the provincial capital of Mbandaka, Equatorial Province (Democratic Republic of Congo), this maternity ward is only accessible on foot over jungle paths or by dugout canoe.
Birth on the River
Under the scorching African sun, I saw a woman give birth to twins…in a canoe. I heard the excited chatter of village children who happened to be swimming nearby when the canoe was paddled to shore.
The children told the woman’s husband where the hospital was located, and as he ran for help the woman lay stoically in the bottom of a dugout canoe, shielding her eyes from the sun’s glare. Her husband returned with a midwife, who helped deliver the babies.
What a miracle that the mum and babies survived the canoe trip and the filthy birthing conditions!
ABOUT LUCY HOBGOOD BROWN and HandUp Congo
Lucy lives in Sydney and is a co-founder of HandUp Congo (www.handupcongo.org). She and her colleagues Anne Zolnor, Betsy Brill and Roma Mehta work pro bono on a variety of DRC projects.
Read more about Lucy’s activites in the Congo – in Zulu’s Community
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