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MaterCare AirMiles

Would you be willing to assist us in getting the word out about the MaterCare AirMiles business account? If so, contact your local parish and ask them to publish the AirMiles number in their weekly bulletin (see below) and ask if you could speak to parishioners about MaterCare using the info provided below. It would take a little effort on your part and pay off immensely for the women who so desperately need our help.

Air Miles
Business Account
#8007 7296378
Donate Air Miles to MaterCare. Just ask the clerk to enter this number.

MaterCare Canada Air Miles
DONATE AIR MILES TO MATERCARE!

MaterCare is a Catholic organization dedicated to making childbirth safe worldwide. World Health Organization statistics show that approximately 52 million give birth unattended each year resulting in the death of approximately 600,000. In addition, approximately 2 million women currently suffer from obstetric fistula with 50 to 80,000 new cases added yearly. Obstetric fistula is caused by prolonged obstructed labour, something that is resolved with a caesarean section in the developed world, but in developing nations, either the woman or the child dies or one or both. If the mother survives, she is frequently left leaking faeces and/or urine due to damaged tissue. Although alive, her life is effectively ended as she is treated as a leper, forced to earn her daily bread by begging or prostitution.

MaterCare, in response to Pope John Paul II’s encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, was created to help mothers through new initiatives of service, training, research and advocacy. For example, our research has shown that an inexpensive pill can reduce maternal deaths by 1/4 (a reduction of approximately 400 per day). As well, our efforts to train Traditional Birth Attendants in some basic procedures to follow in delivery have been very successful in lowering the rates of injury and death. MaterCare is now building a birth trauma centre in Ghana and our next countries of focus will be Rwanda and Kenya where we will train local medical staff in obstetric fistula repair and the prevention of injuries, thus creating a pool of local staff ready to deal with the local situation.

The math alone demonstrates quite sharply that twice the number die yearly in childbirth as the total that died in the 2004 tsunami. And yet very little is being done to help – in sharp contrast to the world wide groundswell of support after the tsunami. Why? Because mothers in childbirth die without a dramatic big wave, without tourists on site and video cameras to record the drama; by contrast, she is often alone and terrified in her home, dying slowly over a period of days. More information is available at www.matercare.org. You may assist in any of the many ways listed and have brochures sent to you.

How can you help?
In addition to the usual monetary donations that we need to exist, MaterCare has also devised an ingenious way to greatly reduce the travel costs for MaterCare personnel. Please consider donating AirMiles to MaterCare. At no cost to you, when you are asked “do you collect AirMiles?”, you simply ask them to enter the MaterCare AirMiles Business Account number: 8007 7296378 as shown in the bulletin. If you prefer a magnetized “swipe: card, it will cost $5 and can be obtained by going to www.matercare.org and contacting the MaterCare office for further instructions. Only 50 AirMiles donated yearly by 1,000 supporters will make a huge difference in travel expenses.

On behalf of mothers in Africa, thank you. Your generosity will make a big difference to those who need it so desperately.