WLCJ 2023 Convention Social Action Project: Our Shifra and Puah Project – GIVING THE GIFT OF A HEALTHY BIRTH

By Ellen Grossman and Randy Schwartz, Convention 2023 Social Action Project Co-Chairs

In Parashat Shemot, Exodus 1:1–6:1, is the story of Pharaoh, who enslaves the Jews in Egypt and orders the midwives, SHIFRAH AND PUAH to kill all Jewish babies. Pharaoh, fearing the Jews will outnumber the Egyptians, commands his people to cast the Jewish babies into the Nile River. This forced Yocheved and Amram to place their baby in a basket in the Nile River. Moses, as he became known, becomes the future leader of the Jewish people and the rest is history.

The WLCJ 2023 Convention Social Action Project – GIVING THE GIFT OF A HEALTHY BIRTH, is a project to support the Shifrah and Puah Maternity Center in Mbale, Uganda. This project exemplifies what it is to give the Gift of a Healthy Birth.

The Shifrah and Puah Maternity Center in Uganda births many Jewish babies each year. To enable this to continue, our Social Action Project will raise money and help offset their expenses. As more babies are being born there, the need becomes even more apparent.

To initiate your support, we are designing a very easy way for you to help. There are many costs that need to be covered at the Shifrah and Puah Maternity Center. With your donation of:

• $18.00, you can cover a woman’s cost to get an ultrasound during her pregnancy and to have her baby delivered at the Center.
• $36.00, you can cover the costs of the sanitary napkins necessary after each delivery for an entire MONTH.
• $72.00, you can cover the costs of the laundry service to keep the sheets, towels and gowns clean for each delivery for an entire MONTH
• $108.00, you can cover the MONTHLY costs of supplying each mother with three sets of baby outfits and one blanket; otherwise, they only have rags to wrap their baby in.

These are just a few examples of what we can do with your donations. With your donation, whatever the amount, you will help greatly.

Look for more information to come and more ways to help our Convention 2023 Shifrah and Puah Maternity Center Project. Have a wonderful Shabbat and realize how important “GIVING THE GIFT OF A HEALTHY BIRTH” can be to help those who need our help. The help we can give is truly of life-saving value.

Todah Rabah

Shabbat Shalom,
Ellen Grossman
WLCJ 2023 Convention 2023 Social Action Project Co-Chair
elkie17@gmail.com

Randy Schwartz
WLCJ 2023 Convention 2023 Social Action Project Co-Chair
rschwartz@wlcj.org