Teaching, Trees, Transitions and Tears…
The last two months have been a whirlwind of activity, travel, transitions, and emotions for the five of us!
* It started with closing a chapter of life with an incredible group of young men who have been under our roof for the last two years as well as the culmination of Isabella’s high school years with her graduation from Rift Valley Academy.
* Three weeks in Madagascar with full clinic days and teaching at the Sarobidy Maternity Center for Alissa and lots of strategizing, team meetings, government meetings, conversations with communities, and planting days for Jamie as he continues to rebuild and grow the reforestation side of Red Island Restoration.
* Three weeks in California for Jamie and Gavin (and an additional 12 days for Alissa and Eliana) proved to be intense with loads of doctor/dentist/orthodontist appointments, driver’s training, practicing and obtaining driver’s licenses for both girls. Presentations and connecting with financial and prayer partners, family reunions, stocking up on essentials for the year to come, as well as starting to get Isabella settled into living in the USA– banking, starting college classes, searching for employment, and the dreaded teary-eyed and hearts-splayed-open goodbyes with Isabella at the airport.
* Jamie and Gavin arrived back in Kenya two weeks ago, prepared to receive 10 new dorm guys into our hearts and home and started the school year off four days before Alissa and Eliana returned to Kenya in a blur of jet-lag late last week.
We praise the Lord for His protection and tender care over our family in these last two months of travel and transitions and all the emotions of change!
Advanced Midwifery Education and Global Recognition…
While in the USA, continuing education for medical providers — doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, etc, is a required component to maintain licensure, this isn’t true of medical providers in Madagascar. Rather, once licensed, always licensed. As you can imagine, this can cause a stagnation in advancing knowledge based on current research and best practices.
Currently, there are 9 Malagasy midwives at the Sarobidy Maternity Center— all licensed after finishing their formal midwifery education. An education, that despite best efforts and good intentions, still leaves gaps in knowledge, clinical understanding, and critical thinking skills. One of Alissa’s deep joys in recent years has been developing advanced midwifery curriculum for the midwives at the Sarobidy Maternity Center– including lectures, handouts, accompanying presentations and exams. Each time we return to Madagascar, Alissa spends several days teaching advanced midwifery education (in a combination of Malagasy and French) to the team of Malagasy midwives with this material. It is exhilarating and exhausting and worth every minute of time and energy put into developing the curriculum! The midwives at the Sarobidy Maternity Center are eager to build upon their knowledge to provide the best midwifery care possible to the women and babies that attend our programs.
While in Madagascar in July, Alissa taught on catastrophic complications during labor and delivery– prolapsed umbilical cord, obstructed labor, uterine rupture, etc., — situations that can devastatingly result in neonatal and maternal death. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2020, a maternal death occurred almost every two minutes globally with nearly 800 women a day dying due to preventable causes in pregnancy and childbirth– the majority of these deaths occurring in underdeveloped countries like Madagascar.
The Sarobidy Maternity Center continues to passionately fight against these medical injustices, both through advanced midwifery education and applying research based best practices with every woman that enters our doors.
As a result of the comprehensive and compassionate care that we offer, earlier this year, the Sarobidy Maternity Center was endorsed by the International Childbirth Initiative as a globally recognized facility that supports the 12 Steps to Safe and Respectful MotherBaby-Family Maternity Care– a first for a facility in Madagascar!!!
We praise God for His hand and favor over our little center in our little corner of the world– He is moving in mighty ways in and through the Sarobidy Maternity Center!
Rolling Out the Healthy Mother/Baby Sponsorship Program…
We’re excited to announce that we’re rolling out the Healthy Mother/Baby sponsorship program through the Sarobidy Maternity Center. $60/month with a 12-month commitment will cover all expenses in providing 1 mother/baby unit with full prenatal care, laboratory testing and ultrasounds, labor and delivery care with a team of 3 skilled midwives (including a c-section if required), as well as all postpartum and newborn care, health education and high protein snacks.
As a vital partner, you will receive…
* The name, picture and story of one woman who has recently joined the Sarobidy Maternity Center.
* A picture of her at 36 weeks pregnant with a big, beautiful belly.
* A picture upon delivery with her and her newborn baby so you can continue to pray for them both by name.
* A tax-deductible receipt from WorldVenture.
ROLANDE:
23 years old
3rd pregnancy, 1 living child
Married
Highest Level of Education Completed: 5th grade
Estimated Delivery Date: 1/27/2025
Due to a lack of financial resources, Rolande did not receive prenatal care with her first baby and delivered at home with a traditional birth attendant. Worried about being able to care for another child, she terminated her next pregnancy. When Rolande discovered that she was pregnant for a third time, she heard from friends about the quality of care provided by the midwives at the Sarobidy Maternity Center. Rolande is extremely happy to be enrolled in the SMC prenatal program and looks forward to welcoming her second baby in the new year!
Would you pray for and consider joining this new sponsorship program to provide women and babies in Madagascar, such as Rolande and her unborn child, with safe and compassionate maternal and newborn care?
If you’re interested in sponsoring Rolande or another woman throughout her time at the Sarobidy Maternity Center, please visit WorldVenture, our sending organization, where you can create a secure account for your 12-month recurring donation for the Healthy Mother/Baby Sponsorship program.
ONLINE: http://worldventure.com/pproject/6401-909-sarobidy-maternity-center/
CALL: (800) 487-4224 and select #6 to speak with someone M-Th 8am-4pm MST.
MAIL:
WorldVenture
20 Inverness Pl E
Englewood, CO 80112
* Specify account #6401-909, Healthy Mother/Baby in the memo.
Rebuilding and Restoring…
As many of you know, Jamie resigned from Eden Projects last November. Since then, he has been diligently working at establishing Red Island Restoration as an official NGO in Madagascar. We’re thrilled that this process is complete and with full government support and partnership. This allows us to partner with Accelerated Restoration Collaboration (ARC)as well as other forest restoration organizations to facilitate, plant, manage and protect large reforestation and restoration areas in partnership with local communities. We have inherited 27 planting sites that were released by Eden Projects and are currently working to build up sponsoring partnerships to continue working in these valuable and unique ecosystems.
We’re working with a Malagasy team who are running the on-the-grounds operations as we continue our “employ to plant and restore” method which provides community impact through employment while addressing the environmental degradation through tree planting and landscape protection. Since the end of May, we have planted 233,345 trees in 2 of the reactivated sites. We anticipate and look forward to continuing to expand into the remaining sites and securing additional sites in the future.
Over the last 18 years, Jamie and the team have gained a wealth of wisdom and expertise in developing a multi-phase approach to forest restoration– initial planting, enrichment planting, protection and conservation. The end goal, as it has always been, is to see thousands of hectares of healthy restored ecosystems that are functioning the way God intended, while simultaneously, providing abundantly for the communities that rely on them, and using this as a platform to share the love of Christ.
If you would like to partner in this restoration work, please visit Accelerated Restoration Collaborative (ARC) and designate your donations to Madagascar!
We praise God for His abundant provision and direction as we continue to follow His leading. We’re thankful we love and serve a merciful God whose speciality is to take things that appear to be dead or dying and resurrects them back to life in a way that brings glory to His name and points people to Him!!
Thank you for your love and care that have journeyed with us throughout so many years and stages– from preschoolers and babies in diapers to young adults in college and kids in high school– from the birth and growth of the Sarobidy Maternity Center– to the start, end, and redefinition of the reforestation work in Madagascar. We are so grateful for you!
Alissa, Jamie, Isabella, Eliana and Gavin
Love to see it!! Also teary-eyed with you in hard transitions