Woodpeckers are known for hammering at wood with their beaks (at 1,200 times the pull of gravity).  My husband and I have one that frequently visits our bird feeder. The feeder is a flat tray that hangs from a shepherd’s crook by three chains. Recently, I watched in fascination as a wren landed on top of the shepherd’s crook while the woodpecker was eating, and threatened it with such ferocity, that the woodpecker retreated beneath the feeder, clutching the sides with its feet (the wren had a nest in a nearby wren house). The next day, I saw a squirrel running back and forth on top of a nearby trellis, trying to escape the wren’s wrath.
 
Similar to the wren, Dignity:Liberia is small. Our US Board of Directors consists of 9 people. While we now have a 3-member Board of Directors and 11 paid employees in Liberia, we are still considered small. 
 
Before I witnessed the mama wren warning all intruders to stay away from her nest, I would have expected her to retreat. Woodpeckers and squirrels are bigger than the tiny bird and appear stronger.
 
Dignity:Liberia has long enjoyed the support of individual donors and a few churches. However, most foundations look at our wren-sized organization and put their money on the “woodpecker” and “squirrel” organizations seeking funding. Fortunately, some foundations realize that size doesn’t matter as much as determination and zeal; in the past three years, we have received foundation grants. The result? A maternity home that is delivering babies and preventing fistula, a collaborative effort between traditional tribal midwives and Dignity:Liberia’s nurses, experienced and trained in midwifery, and a dedicated fistula clinic whose construction is progressing as expected. We are small, but we are achieving some great things. Size does not necessarily matter. 

Two Questions:

1. Do you recall the content of the blog that featured this mother and baby?
2. Do remember something specific about this mother and baby?

 
The blog, Our Impact on Maternal Health in Liberia, highlighted the purpose of our ministry, which is to bring restoration and hope to women with fistula and their communities through healing, education, and prevention. It included quotes from Dignity:Liberia’s founder and president, Kathi Gutierrez, as well as from Becky Mueller, CNM who stated, “Our impact on maternal health in Liberia has begun, one woman and child at a time.” You may not remember all that. I write most of the blogs, and I certainly didn’t, so I looked it up on Dignity:Liberia’s  website. However, I did recall that this mother (Famatta) was the first to give birth at Hope House, and that her baby was born on Easter Sunday 2025.
 
A picture truly is worth a thousand words. So much is happening at Dignity:Liberia’s Todee compound right now: births at Hope House, meetings with TTMs (Traditional Tribal Midwives), construction of Dignity Clinic. There’s also outreach to the surrounding communities. In order to help you keep up with these goings on, we will soon begin posting on Instagram (handle: @DignityLiberia). This will allow you to get updates shortly after they happen.
 
Stay tuned!  We will advise you on Facebook once we launch our Instagram account.

One year in elementary school, we made big envelopes from construction paper, decorated them, and put our names on them in preparation for the Valentine cards our classmates would give us. Most of the cards were store-bought, but some were handmade. I enjoyed seeing the different greetings I had received.
 
Many Americans spend about $252 on Valentine’s Day, though adults between the ages of 35 and 44 often spend over $300!  According to the National Retail Federation, that includes candy, flowers, greeting cards, an evening out, and jewelry. This past Saturday was about romantic love.  
 
According to an article that appeared in Psychology Today*, the Greeks had 7 types of love including philia (the kind friends have for each other), storge (familial love), and agape love (a love that is similar to modern altruism). Agape love includes selflessness, sacrifice, and unconditional care for others.
 
Dignity:Liberia’s supporters demonstrate love with each donation they make. The medical team at Hope House cares deeply for the welfare of pregnant women and teenage girls, working tirelessly to educate them and encourage them to get prenatal care and give birth in a clinical  setting. Yes, they are paid, but their dedication to the efforts to provide safe deliveries and to eliminate fistula goes beyond a paycheck. Certainly Dignity Advocates and others who travel to Liberia sacrifice time, money, and comfort (airlines don’t allow a lot of leg room and Liberia’s heat and humidity can be a bit draining). On both sides of the Atlantic, we care for each other as brothers and sisters.
 
I end phone calls with some of my friends and family by saying, “Love you!”  I will also end this month’s blog by saying to each of you, “Love you!”
  
 
 
 
 
 
*Neel Burton, M.A., M.D., (2025, November 16), Did the Greeks Really Have 7 or 8 Words for Love?, Psychology Today

On one of my trips to Liberia, I purchased an abstract wooden figure. The salesman told me it represented the tough decision a man had to make during the Ebola pandemic, as to whether he should stay in Liberia or leave. This piece appealed to me, as it symbolizes any hard decision I need to make, especially those that I wrestle with in prayer. I placed it in the area I have set aside for my morning devotions. I often glance at it when struggling with tough choices.
 
Not all decisions are difficult, of course, but trusting someone with our health care is a big deal. In the villages visited by Dignity:Liberia’s nurse-midwives, the village chiefs’ decision to welcome their outreach goes a long way toward acceptance by the communities. The traditional tribal midwives’ decision to work with us is a tough one, as it may impact their livelihood. When pregnant women and girls decide, along with their families, to avail themselves of our services, they are trusting someone different with their health care. After examining expectant mothers, nurse-midwives Patricia Kollie Kpalo and William S. Tamba, Jr. decide whether the babies can be safely delivered at Hope House or whether they will need advanced care in a hospital setting.  
 
As we board members receive reports from Liberia, we make decisions based on our various areas of expertise – particularly about the running of Hope House and on issues related to the ongoing construction of Dignity Clinic. We need to make the right decisions, so fistula repair surgery and C-Sections can be safely performed at our clinic once it is operational.
 
You, our supporters, also decide whether to support us or send your donations elsewhere. We know you have a choice when it comes to your charitable donations, and we thank you for deciding to be a part of the solution to preventing obstetric fistula in Liberia.

I am reading, an Advent devotion book* that features a different animal each day. The book describes the measures the animal takes to survive the harshness of a freezing winter landscape, bare of the plants or other animals that provide it food, living in darkness before the hope of spring.
 
At Hope House, the nurse midwives have treated and counseled teens pregnant with their first child, as well as women who are pregnant for the third or fourth time, yet who remain childless. The care they receive gives them hope that this time, things will be different.
 
Through our blog, we have introduced you to many women and girls who have lived in darkness, suffering physically, mentally, and spiritually as the result of an obstetric fistula. Yet each hopes that with fistula repair surgery, the leaking can be stopped so she can resume a normal life. Currently under construction, Dignity Clinic will respond to that hope.
 
At Christmas we celebrate the gift of a promise fulfilled. Hopelessness is changed to hope with the arrival of a tiny infant. December 25. Whether you celebrate the birth of the Christ child or the arrival of Santa (or perhaps a mix of both), may you always have hope. Merry Christmas!
 
 
* All Creation Waits by Gayle Boss, © 2016

Both Liberians and Americans celebrate Thanksgiving in November. It is a national holiday in both nations (the 1st Thursday of the month in Liberia and the 4th Thursday of the month in the United States). Dignity:Liberia has been showered with an abundance of blessings this year, and for that we give thanks.
 
A few months after Hope House began accepting patients, Dignity:Liberia began Phase II of its building project: the construction of a dedicated fistula clinic. From the start, we have received substantial support from Lakeland Community Church in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. This year, Friends of Liberia and The Butterfield Foundation provided additional funding through grants that are restricted to the clinic’s construction.
 
Just last month, another dream of ours came true: we were able to purchase an ambulance! Since Hope House began accepting patients in January 2025, those needing care in a hospital setting were transported in a 4Runner which had been outfitted to serve as an emergency vehicle. This left us short a vehicle for use by board members and dignity advocates to complete other work while in Liberia. In a recent sermon, First United Methodist Church Brenham’s pastor, Mike Lindstrom, invited the congregation to donate money toward an ambulance. The church members’ generosity not only covered the entire purchase but also provided additional funds that are being used for the construction of Dignity Clinic!
 
While the incoming resources are a cause for celebration, a huge blessing this year has been the impact our presence is having on maternal health in Liberia. Much of that is due to the dedicated clinic staff at Hope House, who have seen 98 patients since January!
 
Five babies were delivered at the home, while six other patients were transferred to a nearby hospital for delivery. In one of the pregnancies, the baby was positioned in such a way that it would not have been able to pass through the birth canal during natural childbirth. Another expectant mother had been told she was carrying twins, but actually was carrying a baby that weighed over 10-lbs. We are thankful that these women were able to deliver by C-section and avoid suffering an obstetric fistula injury.
 
Our nurse midwives have visited 42 towns for community outreach. They have forged a working relationship with the Traditional Tribal Midwives (TTMs), hosting them at our compound for sessions of education and information exchange.
 
We continue to enjoy the support of volunteers (both in Liberia and the US), who donate hours of their time and talent to preventing fistula. Since our incorporation, each of your generous monetary gifts has supported our efforts to end obstetric fistula in Liberia. You can meet some of our supporters on our website.
 
Every time a woman gives birth by a delivery that does not cause obstetric fistula, there is cause to rejoice. We are blessed. We are thankful. Happy Thanksgiving!