Saturday 19th May saw visitors from the NGO, Sustain for Life, visit Magbenteh Community Hospital. The purpose of the visit was to discuss a possible partnership to improve health seeking behavior and health outcomes with a focus on antenatal care and family planning, to promote gender equality and empower women and girls. The project initiative provides vulnerable expectant mothers with an antenatal and family planning package to ensure they will not only deliver healthy babies but also encourage them to give birth in a medical facility, safely.
We implemented a hospital tour to the various departments, including the nearly completed new maternity ward and present maternity ward, with several members of our medical team. Subsequently we took Sustain for Life to the nearby villages to give them an opportunity to learn more about the evident need for the project. Upon arrival at the first village we found a young girl of 16 years of age in labour, unable to reach a health facility. It was astonishing to see the sheer number of girls under the age of 18 who were pregnant and therefore not receiving education. We hope and pray that the project funding is granted by Sustain for Life.
