Picture above: A Survival specialist visits a caregiver in her home. They go over a lesson about Galatians 5, the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Caregivers Encouraged to Reach Their Fullest Potential
Every year, 2.6 million babies in poverty don’t survive the first 28 days of life.1 Compassion Survival is designed to help mothers and babies in low and middle-income countries not only survive, but also gain opportunities to escape the cycle of extreme poverty. Compassion and its frontline church partners provide pregnant women and caregivers of infants with the training, resources and support they need for their babies to survive and thrive in the first year of life, while also getting a healthy start in early childhood. Because of your heartfelt generosity in support of Compassion Survival in Kitui, Kenya, precious babies are receiving the care they need to overcome the challenges of extreme poverty. In addition, AIC Kathonzweni is able to provide the necessary support mothers and babies need at this critical time of life. I pray this report blesses you.
1 World Health Organization, “Children: reducing mortality” (2017).
Survival Statistics at AIC Kathonzweni (July – December 2019)
-
- 21 Mothers and their babies received Survival support
-
- 5 Compassion-assisted births
-
- 75% of babies born at normal weight
-
- 3 babies, on average per month, treated for malnutrition
Survival Activity Photos from AIC Kathonzweni
-
- A Survival specialist teaches a lesson on clean water to caregivers. She discusses the diseases caused by drinking unclean water, ways of purifying water, and how to properly store clean drinking water.
-
- A caregiver learns about the importance of breastfeeding during the first six months of a baby’s life. The Survival specialist discusses how breastfeeding will help a child grow healthy and decrease the risk of infection.
-
- Caregivers participate in a marriage retreat hosted by the church.
A Letter of Hope from a Caregiver at AIC Kathonzweni
My Dear Friends,
I humbly pass my greetings to you in Jesus’ mighty name. My name is Grace. I am thankful and appreciate your support of my children through the Survival program. I am living with my parents, sisters, brothers and my babies. There are nine total people living in three small homes. My sister has a child too, and we are always having happy family moments together. We have some goats and chickens, too. We also have neighbors who are so friendly and helpful to us. My parents try to find work, especially my father, but this is very hard. My mother has to work very hard to meet our needs, which is difficult because my sisters and brothers are in school. I used to always struggle to feed my babies because I don’t have my own source of income. When I starting coming to the center, I was happy and appreciated meeting Survival staff because they are loving and welcoming people. They are so caring and motherly. They always pay me a visit at my home each month, and they give me advice on how to take care of myself and my children.
I have twin boys, Brian and Emmanuel. They are now seven months old. Friends, I ask that you pray for them to grow up healthy and meet the holistic developmental milestones. I also plan to start an income-generating business soon to cater to my children’s needs. Emmanuel had been sick for some weeks and I was very worried, but praise God, he is doing well now. My babies are always happy to be with me, and they are growing up to be strong and healthy. I am so grateful to you for your love toward my babies. AIC Kathonzweni Child Development Center has been such a blessing to me and my children. May God bless you for the great love you have shown us. Thank you so much.
Yours in God’s love,
Grace