Last year, on a dusty morning outside Mwanbani, there was a young girl from the Sukuma tribe. She was no more than twelve, walking barefoot with a toddler strapped to her back and a plastic basin balanced perfectly on her head. (This is a powerful blend of narratives detailing the experiences of the poor in Tanzania regarding maternity.)
When I asked why she wasn’t in school, she answered with a quiet honesty:
“My mother is sick. I have to help.”
Without knowing it, she told the story of thousands of girls, thousands of mothers, and thousands of families across rural Tanzania — a story that shows exactly why our mission must continue.
A Village Girl’s Burden
Her mother was eight months pregnant. Their home sat more than twelve miles from the nearest clinic, with no car, no motorcycle, and no midwife.
When labor began early, they did what so many families here do:
They walked.
The little girl held her little brother.
Her father carried their only flashlight.
Her mother leaned on a stick, stopping to breathe through contractions.
Three hours to reach the road.
Two more hours until a motorbike appeared.
And by the time they reached the nearest facility, it was too late.
The baby did not survive.
And her mother barely did.
This is why we serve.
This is why we build.
This is why we go.
Why Africa? Because Families Are Still Walking
People often ask:
“Why Africa?”
“Why not focus on problems closer to home?”
But when you meet the people of Tanzania, the question changes.
It becomes:
“How could we not respond?”
Africa is full of faith, strength, and resilience.
What is missing is access — the kind of access that no mother should live without.
Why Maternal Health?
Because when a mother dies, a family loses its center.
Maternal health is:
a justice issue
a dignity issue
a family issue
a Gospel issue
Protecting mothers is protecting generations.
Why Mwanbani?
The Mwanbani region has:
Needs an upgraded OBGYN center
no maternity waiting home
long walking distances
high maternal and infant mortality
This is why LiftLife Global Health and Caritas Veritate Missions are building the Mwanbani OBGYN Labor & Delivery Hospital and the 20-bed Maternity Waiting Home.
A place where:
women can arrive before labor
midwives offer 24/7 skilled care
long-term physicians can serve
no woman gives birth alone again
This is charity in truth.
This is mercy made concrete.
Why Us? Because Love Has No Borders
We do not go because it is easy.
We go because love sends us.
Love crosses borders.
Love lifts villages.
Love stands with mothers and protects babies.
Love walks the roads ,families still walk every night.
This story and others like it are the reason we keep moving forward.
Her mother’s suffering is the reason we build.
And her hope is the reason we will not stop.
Because love has no borders — and neither does our responsibility to one another.
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TAGS
Africa, Maternal Health, Tanzania, Mwanbani Project, LiftLife Global Health, Catholic Missions, Sukuma Tribe, Mothers and Babies, Global Health, OBGYN Care
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