06/02/2008
Just before Christmas, tragedy struck one Afghan family. In a village near to where BMS workers are attempting to bring vital health improvements, Rashida, a mother of four children, died after giving birth.
The cause? Probably tetanus caught through the use of dirty instruments during childbirth. "This has caused immense sadness," our BMS worker says "and spurred us to try to get something organised as quickly as possible".
Rashida's story is not just a one-off. It's a common occurrence in a country with one of the worst records for mother and infant mortality in the world - and where less than one in ten of the population have access to healthcare.
This project, supported by BMS World Mission, is making a difference by promoting health issues for women in rural communities.
Expatriate and local workers together are training people in villages about life-saving ways of caring for mothers and babies.
The BMS worker leading the project, says, "We are hoping that another nurse will come this month to run some training for the team that they can then cascade into the villages".
One in five children in Afghanistan die before their fifth birthday - a figure that is 40 times worse than the average of industrialised nations. The country also has the second highest maternal death rate in the world.
Cultural sensitivity is vital. "There is a lot of superstition and myth involved in this whole area and we need wisdom for how to share the knowledge that we have access to in the West, whilst not losing the trust and welcome we receive from the villages".
Local practices include not breastfeeding for the first few days (often feeding the babies oil instead) and employing a local woman that is said to have special powers as the preferred birth attendant. "There are some simple things that could be done that would without doubt save some lives", reports our worker.
Please pray that through this work, lives can be saved and "new life" can be the experience of all amongst whom they live and work.
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In line with our Afghan reporting policy, some names and places have been changed.