We Give Thanks!

Children in Zamtan, Zambia, praying
for the hot porridge they're about to receive.

It is with a deep sense of gratitude that we give thanks for YOU, our HealthEd Connect donors,                                                             during this season of Thanksgiving. 

                                   May you be blessed just as you have blessed others.


                                                       The HealthEd Connect Team
                                                                  on behalf of

                                                           the children, mothers,
                                                    health workers, families, and
                                                        communities you touch

Deadly Threat

Newborn babies protected by a mosquito net at a clinic
staffed by volunteer HealthEd Connect Wasaidizi in Lubumbashi, DR Congo

Our tireless health workers defy a small but mighty death threat every day of their lives.  And it's not just for themselves but also for their families and entire communities.  Babies, who have developed no immunity, are the ones at highest risk.  The threat?

The annoying and deadly mosquito. 

According to the NPR Goats and Soda publication, nearly 600,000 people die every year from the Anopheles mosquito alone, making it by far the most dangerous animal on earth.  By contrast, shark attacks get big press even though the death toll in 2018 was four.

Treated mosquito nets are one of the best current deterrents and, fortunately, are being made more available by government entities.  In the meantime, Herculean efforts continue to be made to find the elusive immunization or other preventative method that will render the mosquito ineffective.  Obviously, the sooner the better.

Great News!

There's plenty to be discouraged about in today's news.  But there's also some super exciting news!!

Lunch at the Mapalo Young Peace Maker Community School

According to the UN Goal Keepers conference last month, THE WORLD POVERTY RATE IS AT AN ALL-TIME LOW with less than 10% of the world's population now below the poverty line.  That is definitely cause to celebrate --- but still sobering when you realize 1 in 10 people is still not obtaining the basic necessities of life.  HealthEd Connect is tirelessly working to lift lives through health and education.  The smiling faces of the children show the results.

We're bursting with pride!

 A local hospital in Lee's Summit, Missouri recently posted this celebratory sign:

 But we think our Wasaidizi health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo can go one better.  A small but mighty cadre of seven volunteer Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), has delivered more than 11,468 baabies in the last six years.  No shiny hospital delivery rooms, no back-up surgery suites, no electricity, no running water.  And yet these amazing TBAs come out in the middle of the night to safely deliver hundreds of babies.  Living in a country with one of the highest maternal death rates in the world, these women defy the odds and totally change the grim statistics in their part of the world.

They may not have a billboard announcing their accomplishments, but we think they're incredible!!  And so do countless mothers and babies.