PROJECT DETAILS
Status
Active
Location
Liberia
Priority
Education
CONTEXT
The Holy Family Parish is dedicated to providing spiritual and material assistance to the people of Caldwell, Liberia. Together with the Jesuit Refugee Service and currently through the Jesuit Africa North West (ANW) Province, it has offered hope in the aftermath of two civil wars, and helps address the ongoing effects of the COVID pandemic, national inflation, and the currency crisis, which have exacerbated extreme poverty in the country. In 2011, parishioner and certified midwife Mrs. Beatrice Wallace Kroma transferred her freestanding labor and birth care facility to the Parish, renamed the Holy Family Health Center and offering expanded primary care services to all in the community.
Liberia has limited and unstable infrastructure (electricity, roads, water and sanitation), particularly in rural areas, and ranks 175th out of 189 countries on the Human Development Index, a ranking system summarizing health, knowledge, and standard of living. West Africa is one of the regions suffering the gravest impacts of global climate change, and Monserrado County has experienced recent flooding events that have damaged facilities in the parish and increased malaria risk.
The Holy Family’s Health Center has expanded to provide primary care health services to all members of the community as well as vital maternal and pediatric care. The Center continued to provide midwifery services through the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic, offering lifesaving care to women and babies when many other healthcare facilities shut down.
Liberia - Relevant Statistics
2.3 million Liberians into extreme poverty (41.81% of Liberians live on less than $1.90 USD a day).
Liberia ranks 6th to last of 163 countries in its progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The country has an under-5 mortality rate of 93 deaths per 1,000 children, and a maternal mortality ratio of 661 deaths per 100,000 live births, among the highest in the world.
Approximately 8% of Liberian midwives lost their lives in the Ebola epidemic of 2014 to 2016, frequently due to body-substance isolation difficulties associated with delivery.
OUR PROJECTS
Maternal Care: Maternal care, especially labor and delivery care, remain essential services provided by the Holy Family Health Center. From 2014 to 2019, despite the Ebola epidemic, dedicated healthcare personnel cared for more than 1500 births. The clinic continues to find more avenues to recruit and staff midwives to provide prenatal and birth care.
Primary Care: The Holy Family Health Center remains a central healthcare provider of preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic services to the Caldwell community. The Center provides in-patient beds for continuous care, screens for diseases such as hepatitis and malaria, and distributes essential medicines from antibiotics to ibuprofen. More than 14000 patients have received care from 2006 to 2019.
Healthcare Worker Training: The Center fosters better healthcare services and trains future workers through opportunities for dedicated staff. They are seeking support to help in-service learning programs, support continuing education opportunities, and even provide scholarships for degree programs in health care fields.
Environmental Sustainability: The Holy Family Health Center and the Parish are working on installing solar panels and other sustainable infrastructure. These efforts not only mitigate the impacts of global climate change and promote environmental sustainability, they are also a critical method to establish a stable electricity supply for essential healthcare services.
The Jesuits support respectful and compassionate care for the most vulnerable and marginalized throughout Caldwell. The goal of this effort is to support their work to enhance the preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic services offered to all in the community, with a particular emphasis on care for women and children.
With your donations we will support and expand the clinic´s dedicated staff, offering continuing education opportunities, in-service learning programs, and scholarships for staff to pursue degree programs in health care fields.
In response to the unstable electrical supply, the health center plans to install solar panels and will explore other projects to mitigate the impacts of global climate change and promote environmental sustainability.
WAYS TO SUPPORT OUR WORK
Your contribution plays a vital role in sustaining and expanding the Holy Family Health Center’s operations. Donations of any level can help to support rapid tests for malaria, blood lancets, suture kits, basic medications and other medical equipment and supplies, as well as support the cost of installing solar panels to improve sustainability and reduce reliance on a fragile electrical grid. Ongoing support is also needed for staff training and scholarships.
Support our Project
We are grateful for your donations
$ 10, $ 25, $ 50, $ 100, $ 250, $ 500, $ Other
Any support is welcome!
The funds we raise will go to sustaining and expanding health center operations. On behalf of the Provincial Superior of the Jesuits of North-West Africa Province of the Society of Jesus, Very Rev. Fr. John Ghansah, SJ, we thank you for your donation.
Beatrice Kroma, CM is the founder of the original midwifery clinic in Caldwell. While she donated the clinic to Holy Family Parish in 2011, forming the Holy Family Health Center, She continues to serve the community. When asked what makes her come to work at the clinic every day, Ms. Kroma said simply, “Service of God and humanity.”
