From Birth
Rivers of the World (ROW) has several ongoing projects in Vietnam, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Honduras and the Dominican Republic. Currently, we are really busy with several new projects in Belize.
We are tackling the problem of inadequate health care for pregnant Maya woman in the Toledo District of southern Belize. Women in this remote part of the country receive little, or no, prenatal and postnatal care. This means the Maya women are not cared for before they give birth and they receive virtually no care once their baby is born.
ROW’s response to this situation has been to send teams to Punta Gorda, the capital city in the Toledo District. It is here that we have been busy constructing a maternity ward onto the government hospital. The two-story annex will include care rooms on the bottom floor. Women will receive the care they need in these rooms, similar to hospital rooms. Located upstairs will be classrooms where expectant mothers can receive a good education on caring for their babies prior to and after they give birth. Also located upstairs will be offices for staff. These offices will double as a chapel so the Maya women can also receive spiritual care. We are free to share the gospel in this part of the world and we certainly intend to take advantage of this opportunity.
We want to do all that we can to help these Maya women be healthy physically and spiritually and to ensure that they have healthy babies. We would like to see these babies grow up in the knowledge our our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our hope is that they will cling to Psalm 71:5-6:
“For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.”
The annex will be a place where Maya mothers can safely give birth and receive the care necessary to ensure their baby is healthy. With the completion of this maternity ward, we will have an opportunity to provide a continuum of care for these mothers, from conception, to birth and beyond.
