Every Dollar Doubles to Help Mission Hospital

Don’t Let the Food and Medicine Run Out

Dr. Tom struggles to treat a massive increase in patients with fewer resources available.

“It’s been five to ten times our usual numbers of malnourished kids,” Dr. Tom Catena said, as he and his team rush to treat the effects of malnutrition that’s claiming lives. Mourners gather in the camps to bury those who didn’t survive starvation or reach help in time.

Now the fighting encroaches on one of the last areas of refuge: the remote Nuba Mountains, home to millions of refugees forced from their homes.

It’s also home to Mother of Mercy Hospital – one of the last outposts of medical care in a war-torn nation. And one of the most vital. It’s the only referral hospital for hundreds of miles in each direction. The hospital offers life and hope amid a bleak landscape.

Today Dr. Tom and the hospital team are operating in the most challenging conditions they’ve ever faced. Demand on the hospital is at an all-time high. Supplies are being depleted at record pace.

Dr. Tom needs help. In light of this crisis, a generous supporter has offered a dollar-for-dollar match. Right now every gift to the hospital will be DOUBLED, sending TWO TIMES the medicine and nutritional supplies to help Dr. Tom save lives.

SRF’s Executive VP David Dettoni coordinates vital supply deliveries.

Treating Record Numbers of Patients

The situation in Sudan is known as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis on earth today. Unprecedented numbers of people need humanitarian aid, including medicine, food relief, treatment for civilian injuries, and assistance from massive displacement. The UN estimates some 33 million people are in need of humanitarian aid. A number never before seen.

Mother of Mercy Hospital plays a critical, lifesaving role for millions of people in the Nuba Mountains in the midst of this struggle.

Mother of Mercy offers the most comprehensive medical care in the entire region. With maternity care, surgery, cancer care, eye care, pediatrics, and treatment for a myriad of illnesses and injuries, the facility performs over 2,500 surgeries and treats up to 300,000 patients every year. It’s the only referral hospital in the entire region. For 3 million people, it is their only hope for medical help.

And the need is escalating. Over the past year, patient outreach visits increased by 36%, and the number of babies safely delivered in its maternity ward rose by 33%. The team is now treating an epidemic of malnourishment and injuries from the war.

Meanwhile, the cost of essential supplies has risen, and the ongoing conflict has made it more challenging than ever to secure and deliver the medicines its patients depend on. 

But your gift of any amount will have double the impact to help Dr. Tom and Mother of Mercy Hospital. From now until November 15th, $10 sends $20 in supplies; $25 sends $50 in supplies; and $50 will rush $100 of medicine and food relief. It’s an opportunity to help in a way that goes even farther.

Sudan Relief Fund supporters supply all the medicines Dr. Tom uses to save lives.

Stories of Hope

Rania, a 26-year-old woman, described fleeing her home town of Kadugli at night with nothing but water and clothes for the children. Like others, they were affected by famine and displacement. “The way you see us is the way we left. No shoes. No food.” 

They reached the Nuba Mountains where Mother of Mercy Hospital is treating malnourished children around the clock with Plumpy’Nut medically formulated nutrition packets. Plumpy’Nut treatment for children is possible because of compassionate supporters like you. It is saving children like Rania’s, along with thousands of other young and vulnerable lives.

 “Last year, we saw about 300,000 people, and every one of those patients needs medicines and needs treatment. Without that, many of them die.” – Dr. Tom

Dr. Tom is treating up to ten times more children than usual during this crisis.

Others come in desperate need of medical care. Kadiga was just 14 years old when her husband was sent off as a soldier. She was staying with her parents. Famine affected everyone, and the three only survived on a small amount of grain they stored from a prior food distribution.

Soon the expanding conflict made it unsafe to stay where they were. Kadiga and her parents were forced to flee. To make conditions worse, Kadiga was pregnant and faced a difficult two-week journey.

They had no choice but to make the trek. When they arrived in the village of Umdulu, Kadiga was exhausted. While they stayed for two days to rest, Kadiga started having labor pains. She went to a local clinic feeling certain she was about to go into labor. She worried about being so young and that she might have difficulty in childbirth. Kadiga was right.

After two full days laboring at the local clinic, Kadiga was unable to progress. Her labor stalled and she became feverish. In a moment of providence, she was rushed by ambulance to Mother of Mercy Hospital, where it was quickly determined that her baby was breech. The hospital performed an emergency C-section that saved Kadiga’s and her baby’s lives. 

Kadiga was grateful for the emergency treatment from Mother of Mercy. She shuddered to wonder what would have happened if she’d gone into labor along the journey. Or if she had never made it to Mother of Mercy.

Kadiga is one of the hundreds of patients seen every day whose lives are saved at Mother of Mercy Hospital. Without that care, she could have been among the tragic deaths contributing to the high childbirth mortality rate that haunts this country. But not today. Not for Kadiga – because critical care was available when she needed it.

For over 2 million refugee families, this hospital is their only hope.

Dr. Tom Needs Our Help

For 18 years, Dr. Tom and his staff have seen times of difficulty as well as times of peace. He has jumped into foxholes to take cover from aerial bombs. He has survived endemic illnesses numerous times. And he’s worked all night long in triage scenarios when truckloads of injured patients arrived at once. But nothing, according to Dr. Tom, has been as severe as what he’s seeing in the Nuba Mountains today.

“Last year, we saw about 300,000 people, and every one of those patients needs medicines and needs treatment. Without that, many of them die.”

Surrounded by Sudan’s catastrophic civil war and famine, demand on the hospital has skyrocketed. Supplies are running out. Now is the time to help.

Thanks to the generous DOUBLE MATCHING pledge, EVERY GIFT TO DR. TOM WILL GO TWICE AS FAR.

The Nuba Mountains region is no longer impervious to the effects of Sudan’s expanding civil war. Famine and civilian injuries continue to escalate the hospital’s number of patients and deplete its resources.

Led by the incredible commitment of Dr. Tom and his team, the hospital remains a lifeline in a famine-stricken and war-torn country. Without the medical help offered here, millions of people have nowhere else to go.

“We can’t do this work without the support of friends like you. Without your support we can’t do anything. On behalf of the people of Nuba who don’t have a voice…I want to say thank you. Without donors, I’d be working with band-aids.” – Dr. Tom

Senior VP Matt Smith discusses the hospital’s most urgent needs

Help Dr. Tom Save More Lives – Double Your Gift Now

If you’ve heard stories of incredible tragedy from war-torn families, if you’ve seen heartbreaking photos of mothers crying for their emaciated children, or if you’ve ever been moved by the courage and dedication of Dr. Tom and his missional medical work, now is the time your help will go farther than ever.

Thanks to this limited time matching pledge, every gift will go twice as far to send  lifesaving resources to Mother of Mercy Hospital.

Every day he risks his life to save theirs. But he can’t do it alone. Dr. Tom and Mother of Mercy Hospital fully depend on charitable support. Conditions are among some of the worst the world has ever seen and recorded. But he continues working selflessly, as long as there are people who need help. 

Please support Dr. Tom and his incredible work. Send help today to a devastated part of the world while your donation can have DOUBLE THE IMPACT.

Sincerely,

Neil A. Corkery President