Christmas Gift 2025
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. — 1 Peter 4:10
This year’s Christmas gift is a perfect way to give cheerfully to your favorite charity and receive a gift in return to serve those you love! This year for your Christmas donation, we offer you a set of hand-carved wooden spoons from Kenya, made by local artisans with simple tools and brought back in our luggage. The spoons can grace your holiday table or be gifted to a loved one with a reminder that in giving, we receive much more in return.
In 2025, Maternal Life plans to expand our safe birth programming by sending volunteer US physicians to embed within small rural health facilities in Africa with high infant and mortality rates. We will bring life-saving equipment and train staff how to handle obstetric emergencies. We believe this 1-to-1 training model will be more effective than a large-scale classroom seminar. Fostering long-term partnerships with needy clinics will increase our ability to improve outcomes over time. Are you a health professional with a heart for international mission work? Please visit our website for our volunteer application. We look forward to hearing from you!
We also plan to further expand into Zimbabwe, working with the Zimbabwe Conference of Catholic Bishops to provide Faithful House training seminars to all 8 dioceses. With your help, the church in Zimbabwe would like to bring our programming to every parish in the country!
OF WEDDINGS AND ULTRASOUNDS
Sister Florence Chadia described what is happening in Aripea Parish in Northern Uganda, “Now the total number of weddings from last year July is up to 40 couples. It has never happened to have numbers like this, and it is all from the intervention of Faithful House training.” Marriage formation makes a world of difference –married couples have less poverty, less domestic violence, less HIV risk, and women are more likely to receive health care, including an ultrasound while pregnant. We see husbands using money they may have spent on alcohol or friends on the ultrasound. High risk situations such as an abnormal placental location or twins are identified. Everybody wins!
We can help them because of you!
Thank you from Aripea Uganda, Ruiri Kenya, Makiungu, Tanzania and the many places your love and generosity has reached.
2024 Accomplishments
A missionary named Jackie Pullinger, who has spent her life working with the poor and drug addicted in Hong Kong, once said that “God wants us to have soft hearts and hard feet. The trouble with so many of us is that we have hard hearts and soft feet.” She thought that a heart must be broken first in order for it to become soft, and to have hard feet means to continue to persevere in our love for humanity, every day and in every way.
During Jesus’ 3-year ministry it is estimated that he and his disciples walked over 3,000 miles, healing the sick and showing love and compassion for all they encountered. Although insignificant in comparison (our walk is approximately 120 miles), it is their example that drives us to adventure and charity. Our soft feet are hardened through walking continuously for 7 days, and our hearts are softened by compassion for the joyful people whom we meet on this journey. In addition to being a fundraiser for MLI, the core reason we do this walk is to open our hearts to those who have the greatest needs, to give perspective to the blessings of freedom and privilege, and to learn about perseverance in the face of adversity.
What do you have on your bucket list? If not an African safari, then you’re missing out on one of the world’s greatest adventures. But this is no ordinary safari where you arrive in country by plane and then are chauffeured to a posh resort, spending your days peering at wildlife through the narrow window of a Land Cruiser. This safari matches the work of Maternal Life with its grassroots view into the country and people of Kenya. It is a boots-on-the-ground rugged adventure that will have you imagining that you are one of the early explorers or missionaries who were enchanted by this magnificent continent.
Carlos Descalzo, CEO of InJoy Health Education, partnered with Maternal Life for the walk. To read the entirety of his article, please visit InJoy’s blog at: injoyhealtheducation.com/walking-across-kenya-to-support-safe-births-and-secure-families-reflections-and-lessons-learned/
When my wife, son, and I decided to participate in the Safe Passages Walk, we knew there would be a lot of walking involved. But we didn’t realize the extent to which walking – basic, human-powered transportation – would become central to our entire experience in Kenya. Our goals were to bring awareness to maternal health disparities, raise funds, and be in solidarity with Africans like the ones we saw walking for miles every day, just as our ancestors did long ago.
While some children we met were fortunate enough to have a school nearby, others herded goats or fetched water, as survival took precedence over education. Aware of the scarcity of medical services, our group purchased a medical evacuation insurance policy. The local people have no such luxuries. Clinics are few and far between. Pregnant women may walk many miles to seek care, even while in labor.
One of the main things I learned on this walk was to surrender. I did not know how many miles, how many hours, and in what terrain we were going to walk on any given day. But as the trip progressed, we learned to match our emotions to the slow pace of the walk. We all learned to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, and with the simpler life that comes from walking.
Because we were walking, we got a closer understanding of the people. Children and families were coming out and peeking through the trees in awe. It is humbling to see how they live with so little. It was especially shocking to see the little kids shepherding and carrying barrels of water.
The most incredible people we met were the 16 camel drovers, our local guides on the trip. They woke up two hours before sunrise to begin preparations for the day, which included packing up the entire camp onto the backs of 27 ornery camels. They each had one set of clothes, one headlamp, and a pair of sandals on their feet. Their resiliency, endurance and humility were beyond belief. Despite obvious fatigue, foot injuries and illness, the drovers always seemed happy, singing and staying positive.
Beyond making us appreciate the comforts of our lives, the walk also gave us a greater sense of urgency to help pregnant women and families in Africa. The medical clinic that we visited was much different than the ones we see in our business. There are rudimentary exam tables, limited equipment, and no ultrasounds except the one that we presented them. The staff was so grateful, believing that it was an answer to their prayers. Not only will an ultrasound diagnosis help a mother transfer to higher care if needed, it will also encourage women to come in for general prenatal care. As one doctor put it, “Who doesn’t want to see their baby?”