"Maria" (not her real name) is just 18 years old. Last year she and her husband had their first baby. Sadly, the baby died at just 5 days old (after inhaling meconium during delivery). Maria is pregnant again but her husband is physically abusive. She recently moved back home with her mother and sleeps on the floor with her four siblings. I can't imagine being pregnant, heart broken from the loss of a child, physical abuse and sleeping on the dirt floor night after night.
While some of our team members build the beds, other team members will provide lice treatments for children in the community. The bed project is organized through the "Hands of Hope" medical clinic, which provides desperately needed medical care to their remote community. In order to qualify for the bed program, families participate in a community service project through the local church (in partnership with Hands of Hope).
Maria and her family have already been notified that they have been chosen to receive a bed and they are thrilled. These beds are often the first piece of furniture that a family has ever owned. Families use them as tables and desks and often sleep on the beds together (4 or 5 family members!). We are so humbled to be able to provide this desperately needed gift for Maria and her family.
Our last two "bed delivery" teams @ Hands of Hope
(see blog archives from our October, 2010 and November, 2011 trips)
The beds only cost $50 to build and deliver. If you would like to pay for one of the beds, please email me at jenni.ramsey@cox.net.
