Our Adoption Story

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Because Every Mother Matters

Just wanting to pass on this really great organization called Because Every Mother Matters.  Adam and I have chosen to adopt at this point in our lives, but we would not say that that adoption is the only and best answer to the orphan crisis. There are lots of ways for people to care for orphans, but there also ways - get this...because I love it - to PREVENT orphans all together. There are so many reasons that so many children are orphaned. In the Congo one of the major reasons is because of the war going on there. In the Congo and in many other countries, women do not have access to prenatal care or access to a hospital if something were to go wrong in delivery. I'm not sure about where this statistic comes from or whose research it is but on the website Because Every Mother Matters they state that in America 1 mother dies per 8,000 live births due to pregnancy related causes and in East Africa 1 mother dies per 11 births due to pregnancy related causes.  Wow....so this organization was created and exists to decrease that number. They are doing really cool things and offer sponsorships of mothers in Eastern Africa, they send people to train women with what they call birthing kits, and they even work to fund a means of transportation in communities in the case of a crisis during labor.  

A girl in Fort Wayne actually introduced a few of the women in my bible study to this organization, she is taking a trip to E. Africa with Because Every Mother Matters this summer. Her involvement has led our bible study group of 15 moms to think about how we as moms living in America could affect the life of a mom living in Eastern Africa and even be at work to prevent the orphan crisis one mama at a time. 

I just love it, I just love the idea of coming at this crisis from different angles and how our lives as moms might be changed and affected by this woman that we are so exited to get to know. The organization actually works to pair us up with an Ethiopian mom, we get to know her story and life situation and even get to send her letters and packages. Who knows maybe we would be able to meet her someday. 

Just wanted to pass this on to anyone interested. I just think it's such a cool idea. 

1 comments:

meghan said...

You truly have changed the life of one Ethiopian mom. I love that you realize that you are being called to adopt and at the same time are preventing orphans by sponsoring Melka! I cannot wait to come and share with your group about her and bring you all pictures of her beautiful family!
Meghan