Kings County Times

A 15-year-old Maasai girl stumbles through the doors of the Africa Mission Services Clinic. Her feet are dusty red from the road that brought her there. She finds her way alone into the delivery room, her eyes fixed on the small birthing table. Holly Green, Adventist Health System Perinatal Department Specialist, is near, and she helps the girl onto the table, no sheet between her and the faux leather mattress that has been used in the center’s more than 600 deliveries already this year.

The patient is in labor. There are no pillows or warm blankets to comfort her. No ice chips. No stirrups to support her. Holly can tell by examining her that scar tissue from a female circumcision will mean a more difficult – and painful – delivery.

A few years ago, before the single operating room was built, Holly’s patient would have had to walk 37 miles to deliver her baby. Now, through the support of local and international partners, a small, local clinic with a single operating room stands off of the dirt road in a space that resembled the surrounding open fields. But as the area’s population has increased, so has the need for an expansion that will allow for more women to receive the care they need. Through Adventist Health Global Missions support, as well as time and sweat equity by volunteers on mission trips, Africa Mission Services will soon open its doors on a new, larger Maternal and Women's Health Center, creating a place for local providers to save the lives of more mothers and babies.

Holly – whose day-to-day office is in Roseville – is one of the Adventist Health associates who have helped make the long-term goal of a new birthing center a reality. In November, she journeyed to Kenya’s Maasai Mara, a land known for its wildlife and for being home to nomadic herders of the Maasai tribe, with 49 Adventist Health associates and volunteers. They took 10 days away from their routine jobs to participate in a medical mission trip organized by Adventist Health’s Global Missions team. They left their homes equipped with suitcases of clothing donations, a yearning to serve, and a willingness to travel almost 30 hours into the heart of Africa.

While every volunteer had a job, the heart of the mission was focused on the local Maternal and Women’s Health Center. Holly’s small crew led classes with the local midwives, administered immunizations, and helped during deliveries. Others worked in the equatorial heat, stacking bricks on the new two-story birthing center with the Maasai construction crew. Every day, walls grew higher, piles of lumber became trellises, and the long-term vision began to stand tall as a two-story medical center.

It’s been a few weeks since Holly returned home, and in the Maasai Mara – the place where she helped that patient who wandered in off the road deliver a beautiful baby – and the new center is almost complete. While 48 of Holly’s peers gave of their time and manual labor, others are supporting the project monetarily from home through Adventist Health Global Mission Fund's current fundraiser. So far, $230,000 of the $350,000 overall building costs have been raised – leaving a current need of only $120,000. To achieve this goal, Adventist Health Global Mission Fund is matching contributions to the building project dollar-for-dollar through Dec. 28, 2022.

“Global humanitarian impact is rich in the Adventist faith tradition, and this includes delivery of healthcare. I can’t think of a better way to experience a sense of vocation and purpose, a feeling like you’re part of something important than by making a difference for others,” said Alex Bryan, Adventist Health Chief Mission Officer, who daily laid brick at the construction site in Kenya. “It’s important to care about what you’re doing locally, but just as importantly, I encourage you to have a global concern, to donate to a larger cause, and be a part of something that has the power to change you.”

Adventist Health Global Mission Project

You can make a difference! The Maternal and Women’s Health Center expansion project is pushing toward the finish line. Overall building costs are $350,000, with $230,000 already raised. We need to raise $120,000 to complete the project. Your contributions will be matched dollar for dollar through Dec. 28, 2022. This is your chance to get involved and be part of the team making it possible for women in the Maasai Mara to get the healthcare they deserve. You can either become a sole fundraiser or create a team by clicking "Become a Fundraiser."

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