Hawa thought it was just an insect bite

Weeks later she could no longer walk

Hawa Musa considers herself lucky. She raised six daughters with her husband, Mekki, and their youngest daughter, Amjuma, still lived at home. That became especially important when circumstances beyond the family’s control left Hawa without her husband. 

Mekki, who is blind, had traveled to Khartoum – the capital of Sudan – to seek treatment. While he was there, civil war erupted, and the bombing and artillery fire made it impossible for him to return home. With Mekki stranded in Khartoum, Hawa was especially grateful to have Amjuma with her. Without her daughter, she would have been completely alone. 

To make ends meet at home, Amjuma would make and sell tea in the marketplace to earn a meager income for her mother and herself. One afternoon while Amjuma was away, Hawa received a mysterious insect bite. She thought little of it until her body started breaking out in blisters. They weren’t painful at the time, but itched very much. So she went to a clinic in Yida where she was told it was allergies.

Hawa took medicine injections for several days, but continued to see more blisters appear on her body. So she stopped the injections and simply suffered with the condition for an entire month, because she had no money to travel elsewhere or to pay for more medicine.

After hearing of Hawa’s condition, her nephew came to see her. He took Hawa to a different clinic to try to find help for her. After she was examined, she was told the blisters were from poisonous insect venom. She was prescribed more injections, but again they proved to be of no help. She was still breaking out in more blisters. And beyond the incessant itching, the blisters were now becoming painful.

Hawa stopped the injections once again. She painfully lived with the condition day by day, able to do very little, but thankful for the help of her daughter. Then a blessing came. Her brother in Khartoum sent her money to pay for transportation to Mother of Mercy Hospital in Gidel – a Sudan Relief Fund partner hospital. He suspected if any medical facility could help her, Hawa would find that help at Mother of Mercy.

As soon as Hawa received the money, she and her daughter made the trip together to Gidel, a small community in the remote Nuba Mountains, where Mother of Mercy stands as the only referral hospital for hundreds of miles. Founded by missionary doctor Tom Catena, a Brown University alum who hails from New York state and for years served as its only surgeon, the hospital serves an area of more than 3 million people.

It was a painful trip for Hawa. When she arrived at Mother of Mercy, she could no longer walk at all, due to the pain and inflammation from the blisters that covered her body.  She was immediately put on a strong protocol of medicines that was continuously administered and monitored around the clock. Hawa wondered if it was too late to find relief, if she would ever be able to walk again, or if she would ever make it back home with her daughter.

But the team at Mother of Mercy continued her treatment aggressively. After a tenuous month and twenty six days later, the blisters and wounds finally gave way to healing. Hawa was able to take her first steps walking a short distance, while she and her daughter beamed.

Today Hawa is very happy, knowing how fortunate she was to have help when she needed it – from a generous brother who paid her fare, to the timely diagnosis and treatment at Mother of Mercy that gave Hawa her life back.

She smiles when she thinks of her team of doctors and nurses who refused to give up on her condition. Hawa says her prayer for them is good health, so they may always be able to offer their medical services to help other suffering people like her.

These stories of lives saved are made possible by compassionate people like you. Mother of Mercy Hospital is fully funded by charitable support and continues to provide medical care that people in this region wouldn’t have without it. Thank you for saving lives and bringing hope to people like Hawa, and thousands of others whose lives depend on this care.

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Raya

When you live in one of the most dangerous places on earth to have a baby, access to medical care can mean the difference between life and death.

Tragically, South Sudan and the Nuba Mountains of Sudan have long experienced some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. It’s still common for women to give birth in villages without medical supervision or sterile environments. But Sudan Relief Fund hospitals like Mother of Mercy in the Nuba Mountains and St. Theresa in Nzara are striving to turn the tide – paving the way for safer motherhood in a part of the world that desperately needs this care.

27-year-old Raya can tell you how much it means.

Raya was eight months into her pregnancy when she started to experience a mysterious swelling of her limbs. Her face became puffy. And she began to feel very dizzy – often. She knew these were not normal symptoms of pregnancy. And she was right.

Raya went to a nearby clinic where she was recognized as showing classic signs of pre-eclampsia. It is a potentially dangerous condition that can escalate quickly and become life threatening. Pre-eclampsia is a complication of pregnancy where restricted blood flow can cause blood pressure to reach dangerous levels. If it progresses into full eclampsia, it can lead to convulsions and coma, organ failure, and even death.

The clinic wasted no time. They knew Raya and her baby were at great risk. They administered blood pressure medication to Raya and referred her on the spot to Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains. She was sent immediately by ambulance.

Even by ambulance, the route is long and hindered by difficult roads. By the time she arrived at Mother of Mercy Hospital, Raya’s condition had progressed and she was diagnosed with eclampsia. 

But she was in excellent care. Dr. Tom Catena and the staff immediately jumped in, working 24-7 to administer emergency care to save Raya and her baby. She remained at the hospital for a full month, receiving intensive care, oxygen treatment, and continuous monitoring. 

Under their watchful eye, Raya’s pregnancy reached full term, and Raya gave birth to a healthy baby girl at Mother of Mercy Hospital. 

Three days later she would be allowed to take her new baby girl home, because both mother and infant were safe and well. A story with a happy ending, that could have gone very differently without a dedicated medical team, a remote mountain hospital, and the Sudan Relief Fund donors who make it possible.

Thank you for partnering with us to save lives like Raya and her baby girl, through your support of programs that bring medical care to people and places without it.

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Nine Hour Rescue Mission

A Young Boy is Saved from Life Threatening Infection

Kambal was just ten years old, but he was already doing his part to help with the family chores. He lives in the country with his four sisters and one brother. Like many others here, his family makes an agrarian living as farmers, growing food and raising livestock.

Kambal was outside tending to the young animals when he inadvertently stepped in a thorny patch. He felt a single thorn pierce the skin on his left leg. But he didn’t think much of it, and kept moving. After all, it was only one little thorn.

But some time later, the leg began to grow painful. At first he brushed it off. But the pain got worse. And before he knew it, he was sick with a fever.

Upon seeing his pain and fever develop, Kambal’s parents took him to the nearest health clinic in Jumezia. They arrived only to discover the clinic wasn’t open that day. So early the next morning they took Kambal farther away to the Ardi Cannan clinic. By now his leg had swollen to an alarming proportion. The clinicians drained some of the fluid, gave Kambal an injection, and kept him for monitoring, hoping this would clear up the infection and reduce his swelling.

Unfortunately, it didn’t. His pain only grew worse and the swelling continued to increase. The clinicians understood that infections can suddenly turn septic and become fatal if not treated in time. They advised Kambal’s parents to waste no time getting him to Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains, where they hoped he could find the help he needed.

Mother of Mercy is a missionary hospital founded by humanitarian Dr. Tom Catena, and a partner facility of Sudan Relief Fund. Our supporters help fund all the medicine used at this vital facility, as well as support equipment needs and expansion projects. There is no other hospital like it for hundreds of miles in the region, where patients can find treatment that’s not available to them anywhere else.

But Kambal’s worried parents had no way to transport him that far away. It was a nine hour drive by vehicle, which they didn’t have. With no other option, they hired a motorbike and rode the distance with their son on a three-wheeler across challenging roads to reach Gidel, a small community in the remote Nuba Mountains. Kambal’s condition was becoming life threatening, and this was their last hope.

The staff at Mother of Mercy wasted no time rushing the young boy into surgery, where they operated on his infected leg to save it. Kambal came through the lengthy operation and was put on an aggressive protocol of drugs. His condition was strictly monitored and managed over the next few critical days.

Soon he turned a corner and it became apparent that his leg was going to heal. He would not lose it or succumb to a deadly infection.

Kambal’s mother couldn’t put in words her relief from the stress and hopelessness she had felt when her son was so ill. She thanked the staff at Mother of Mercy profusely for all they had done to save her son’s life and preserve Kambal’s leg.

It was still a long road to recovery for Kambal. But after a month and a half at the hospital, he was able to stand and use his leg once again. When he was able to take a small walk around the room, the staff cheered, and ten year-old Kambal smiled.

These stories of lives saved are made possible by generous donors like you who support Sudan Relief Fund medical projects such as Mother of Mercy Hospital, and other lifesaving initiatives like food relief, clean water, care for orphans, and more. Thank you for saving lives like young Kambal’s and many others whose lives are transformed by the help and hope you provide.

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From Tragedy to Joy

Dr. Tom Rescues and Adopts Orphaned Little Girl

Four year-old Zaitun couldn’t move. She was so emaciated from malnourishment that her knees and hips were paralyzed. It was a frightening condition called contractures, a symptom of extreme malnutrition where joints lock up so tightly they can’t bend or straighten.

Her abdomen was distended and her body was covered in pressure sores. When she was rushed to Mother of Mercy Hospital by local community members with the help of an NGO, she arrived in tremendously fragile condition. But now she was in a place where she could receive the help she desperately needed.

Zaitun’s name means “Olive.” In its native Arabic, it carries a deeper symbolic meaning of peace, blessing, nourishment, healing, and resilience. An apt name for a little girl with the will to hold on through such tragedy and physical trauma.

Zaitun had lost her family in the Sudan war. She was left orphaned, alone, and neglected, in a harsh world where a four-year-old girl has no chance of surviving without help. 

The team at Mother of Mercy Hospital immediately rallied around the little girl and began intense treatment to save her life. The hospital’s nutrition staff worked around the clock to help Zaitun recover. Dr. Tom personally entrusted her care to a physiotherapist doctor who was visiting from India.

Three times a day Zaitun was given physiotherapy treatments that included gentle stretching, repositioning, and strengthening exercises, with the goal to restore movement to her hips and legs. Initially, the tiniest movement was painful. But slowly, Zaitun began to show signs of progress.

After two weeks of treatment, Zaitun was able to sit up on her own. By week three, she could stand up with support. She started taking tentative steps. With steady nutrition support, her strength began to return.

Soon she was making remarkable physical progress. But a nagging question remained. When Zaitun recovered, where would she go? She had no home or family to return to. What would become of this little girl?

That’s when Zaitun’s second miracle happened. Hospital Director Dr. Tom Catena, and his wife Nasima, who is an RN and the Head Nurse of the Male Ward, made the decision to bring Zaitun into their family. The resilient little girl who clung to life was not only growing healthy again – she wasn’t an orphan anymore.

Zaitun was welcomed into Dr. Tom and Nasima’s family, with her two adopted brothers, Francis Gene who is age 8, and Vincent who just turned 2. The founder of Mother of Mercy Hospital not only saved Zaitun’s life, but also gave her a family and a future filled with love and hope.

Today the girl whose name means “blessing” is thriving. The visiting physiotherapist from India came back to see Zaitun two months later. The little girl was no longer terrified of doctors or treatment, smiled warmly and said, “Thank you.”

These stories of Lives Saved are made possible because of people like you. Mother of Mercy Hospital is fully funded by charitable donations and compassionate donors who support healthcare programs for people who would be without it. Thank you for saving lives like young Zaitun’s, and helping so many others whose lives are transformed because of your support.

Would you like to pray for us? Sign up for our email prayer group to receive weekly emails sharing important needs to pray for. You’ll join a faith community around the globe praying to bring hope and help to suffering people in a forgotten part of the world. Click here to find out more.