Mary Abdallah

While many of us take transportation opportunities for granted, getting from here to there in South Sudan can be overwhelming, if not altogether impossible at times. Automobile ownership is virtually nonexistent, fuel is costly, and modes of transport are further inhibited by impassable roads during the rainy season. Most travel is by foot or farm animal.

So when 37 year-old Mary Abdallah took off on a 4-hour walk to the neighboring village of Gardud with her young daughter, Rehab, while carrying her sixth month-old baby boy, Kumi, she was grateful to receive the offer from a tractor driver heading in her direction. Even if it meant they would have to stop here and there along the way to pick up and unload.

On a typical day, Mary Abdallah is busy being the mother of nine children, living with her family in the village of Al-Hamam, an 8-hour walk from the Mother of Mercy Hospital which is located in the Nuba Mountains of South Sudan. When she left on her walk that day, she couldn’t have known how vital that facility would be to her and her family.

Mary climbed onto the already overloaded trailer and settled in with Rehab and Baby Kumi. Two hours passed when suddenly the trailer overturned without warning, injuring all seven of the passengers. Mary and her children were alive but in need of emergency care. Providentially, the accident occurred near a police checkpoint, and police immediately sent out a motorbike to find any means of transportation to get the wounded to a hospital.

A tuk-tuk – a three-wheeled motorized vehicle often used as a small taxi – was commandeered to take Mary and her two children to the hospital in Luwere, the nearest medical facility, but they were sent on to Mother of Mercy Hospital to treat their greater needs. Mary had sustained a head wound and broken her arm; her daughter, Rehab, was suffering from internal bleeding. Miraculously, the baby was bruised but not seriously injured.

At Mother of Mercy Hospital, Mary received sutures for her head wound, and a cast for her fractured arm. Young Rehab was sent into surgery and underwent a laparotomy for internal bleeding. Incredibly, the family came out on the other side of the life threatening ordeal well, and are now on the road to recovery. Overturned farm vehicles can so often result in crippling injuries and fatalities. Fortunately Mary, Rehab, and Kumi were able to make it to a facility that was equipped to handle their urgent care.

“We were so close to death, I and my two children,” Mary expressed. “We were suffering, and without such medical and surgical care the Mother of Mercy Hospital provided, my daughter Rehab would have died from internal bleeding. I thank Dr. Tom and his team for saving our lives. I also thank those who help this hospital. God bless you.”

Mother’s Day

WILL YOU GIVE A GIFT TO HELP A MOTHER IN NEED FOR MOTHER’S DAY?

Mothers are truly a precious gift worth celebrating. They pour so much love and sacrifice into our lives, and we are grateful. But in some parts of the world, being a mother is incredibly difficult. As you celebrate Mother’s Day this year, would you consider giving a gift to help a mother who is struggling in remote parts of South Sudan?

Your gift will help mothers like Nasrin Mubarak, a 22 year-old woman from Achrun Hills. When she first became pregnant, all seemed well. She made sure to visit the one birth attendant who served her region for wellness checkups. But when it came time to deliver, things took a sudden turn for the worse.

Nasrin labored for two full days at home, unable to deliver her baby. She was taken to the local clinic, which didn’t have the resources to provide the urgent care she needed. Through an Outreach Program, a truck was located to drive Nasrin to Mother of Mercy Hospital – a referral hospital in the Nuba Mountains, run by missionary doctor Tom Catena and supported by Sudan Relief Fund.

After many grueling hours of driving by truck while enduring stalled labor, Nasrin arrived at the hospital nearly unconscious. Within minutes she received an emergency C-section that saved both the lives of Nasrin and her unborn baby. It was a close call. But she is pictured here smiling, with her healthy five day-old son, Kuku Mitiyas.

Mother of Mercy is operated, staffed, and supplied by the donations of compassionate people who keep it running – the only facility of its kind for 300 miles serving thousands. Mothers like Nasrin don’t have the medical care available to them we take for granted. Having a baby can be a life threatening experience.

Thankfully Nasrin and her baby boy lived. But only because Mother of Mercy hospital was available to provide lifesaving care at a critical moment. “I thank God for the gift of Dr. Tom and the generous donors who keep the doors of Mother of Mercy Hospital open. God bless you all,” says Nasrin. “If not for the lifesaving surgery and the needed medication, our lives would have been lost, mine and my baby’s.”

We hope you enjoy a blessed Mother’s Day this year. And we hope you will consider blessing another mother who needs it so desperately. Honestly, you may save someone’s life. What better gift to give?

Please send your gift here, or consider joining us as a monthly supporter.

Samira Sirer Tia

Meet Samira Sirer Tia. She is 25 years old and a busy mother from the village of Dabakaya in South Sudan. Earlier this year Samira became pregnant, but this time things were different than usual. From the outset she began to feel dizzy and weak. Soon this became so severe that she went to the nearest clinic to find out what was wrong. Samira spent seven days at that clinic but was eventually discharged. They told Samira she lacked blood, but the clinic could not do blood transfusions. So she was released and went home.

In just three days’ time Samira grew far worse and became so weak she couldn’t even move on her own. To move anywhere she had to be carried. She was taken to a different clinic where the staff referred her to the Mother of Mercy Hospital for further medical management.

It was nearly a ten-hour drive from Samira’s village to Mother of Mercy Hospital, a facility supported by the Sudan Relief Fund and made possible by the support donors. At six months pregnant, Samira was severely anemic and had a hemoglobin count of only 3.0. (A normal range for a woman is 12 to 15.) This was a life-threatening condition resulting in severe anemia since she did not have enough red blood cells to carry oxygen to her body. Samira was immediately admitted for critical care and remained for several weeks.

Thanks to her treatment at Mother of Mercy Hospital, Samira can now walk on her own again. Her pregnancy progressed well and she had a successful delivery. Samira is extremely grateful to God for the gift of her life and to Dr. Tom Catena and his staff for her recovery. She sends her message of gratitude to those who support Mother of Mercy Hospital. Because of you, this expectant mother was able to receive the lifesaving treatment she and her baby urgently needed.