Convention 2023 Social Action Project

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

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

In the Torah Portion, Terumah: Exodus 25:1-27:19   God tells Moses to collect donated materials to build a dwelling place for God called the Mishkan or Tabernacle. God describes how to build all the things that will fill the Mishkan – the ark, table, menorah, and sacrificial altar, and the Mishkan’s walls and curtains.

The Shifrah and Puah Maternity Center was “built” in July 2018, due to the efforts of an Israeli nurse and midwife, Ilana Shemesh, who wanted to improve the maternal and infant mortality rates in Uganda.

Through donations, this center serves the women of Mbale and its neighboring villages and has a multi-denominational clientele and staff of Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

All services provided by the center are completely free of charge to encourage women to come in for prenatal, birth and post-partum services rather than going through their pregnancies unassisted. The center is dependent on donations. That’s where we come in.

March 8th was International Women’s Day, a National Holiday in Uganda. Help us support the women of Uganda and the work that was started in 2018. With your donation, or your Sisterhood’s donation, we can help maintain and improve the degree of health and wellbeing of the women and their babies of Abayudaya, Uganda.

Here is the recent category added:

• $126.00, you can cover the costs of mosquito netting and Malaria treatment and medications – Pitocin, iron pills and infusion solutions; for all pregnant women to prevent stillbirths, premature births, and poor fetal growth for an entire MONTH.

Here are just a few other examples of what we can help cover with your donations:

• $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,

Ellen & Randy