I love little children.  They are born without prejudice and, until they learn otherwise, are innocent and trusting.  They are curious and love to imitate others.  They want to learn about everyone and everything.  They have energy to burn and are eager to please.  They are friendly and love to laugh.  They also bring out the child in adults.     
 
The children we met in Liberia were fascinated when the team showed up at the construction site.  They were captivated by Becky’s drone and looked on in awe when she put it into action.  When we went to nearby Varney Goyah Town to conduct community assessment interviews, they gathered around us.  They were highly amused by my taking pictures of chickens and coconuts.  Lizzy took my hand and skipped along beside me as we walked.  When we left to return to the construction site, they ran there on foot, taking a shortcut and showing up about the same time as our vehicle.  Rick had a bagful of candy that he gave them.  They gathered around him laughing joyfully as he passed out the sweets. 
 
At some point, someone decided to use a hose as a makeshift jump rope.  The children had fun jumping as the adults turned the “rope.”  They laughed in delight when the men jumped rope as well.  As I recalled all this the other day, I thought, what if they had never been born?  All those beautiful smiles never lighting up my heart or those of their parents. 
 
Sadly, not only do many women develop a fistula due to their prolonged labor, but their babies are stillborn.  Most of the fistula survivors I have spoken to lost their babies.  They didn’t just suffer a problem that causes shame and isolation, but they lost their precious baby - a baby that could have grown up with bubbly laughter and dreams.  Dignity:Liberia’s dream is to build a maternity waiting home that will provide a safe place to stay for a woman in the final days of her pregnancy. 
 
The construction of House of Hope and Dignity is well under way.  But we need your help in order to complete it and make it operational.  By donating now, you can make that happen.  Click here to make your gift.  Thank you.

“While they were there, the time came for her Child to be born. And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”    --Luke 2:6-7
 
The inn referenced in the quoted verse may have been a general lodging place or it may have been a spare room in a private residence.  Whatever it was, it was unavailable.  Because no room was available, Mary gave birth in less-than-ideal conditions.
 
This year, Dignity:Liberia began building its maternity waiting home, House of Hope and Dignity.  It is taking shape!  This would not have happened without your support, and we are so grateful to each of you for your past gifts.
 
However, building materials and labor costs add up.  Funds that are being spent need to be replaced.  Imagine if there were no room for an expectant mom to come for the last week of her pregnancy because the home was never built.  Imagine if she had to give birth in less-than-ideal conditions due to lack of funding.
 
Can we count on you to help us build this home?  If you have been waiting to make a year-end donation, wait no more!  Your gift will be multiplied in the form of lives changed and lives saved.  (And it’s tax-deductible!)  Just click on this link to make a donation.
 
Thank you.  Have a safe and Merry Christmas!

When I lived in Liberia in the 1970s, plenty of cars were in use as taxis.  This was the form of public transportation that I used as my parents forbade me to use the money bus (although I did board one once with some classmates).  Now the streets are overcrowded with kee kees (3-wheeled taxis) and pan pans (motorcycle taxis).  I admire anyone who is able to navigate the roads filled with potholes, people trying to sell their wares, and these ubiquitous vehicles. 
 
While driving through Kakata recently, we saw a pan pan start to wobble.  The passenger was carrying a bag of charcoal that apparently wasn’t balanced properly.  The pan pan started heading toward our vehicle but Becky, who was driving, managed to get out of its way.  A moment later, the pan pan overturned, scattering driver, passenger, and charcoal. 
 
Just a few days before, a friend of ours showed us her injuries from a pan pan accident.  She had a scar on her leg and her right arm was still swollen.  I expressed admiration that she had continued to work, as I probably would have been using sick leave had that happened to me.  She replied, “Well you see, in Liberia we have no choice.”  She also told me that in most circumstances when you call for an ambulance in Liberia, you pay up front for the service or you’re not transported to the hospital.
                                                                                                                                       
This made me think of woman who develop complications when the “pain grabs them” (when they are in labor).  Some of the fistula survivors I’ve spoken to have told me that the Traditional Tribal Midwife (TTM) did things such as bounce on their belly or cause them to gag in order to aid the delivery.  Eventually the TTM realizes that medical intervention is required. 
 
How will the expectant mother get to the hospital?  Will she have to walk?  Will she need to use public transportation?  What if her complications are serious enough to necessitate an ambulance?  Can her family afford to pay?
 
Dignity:Liberia’s maternity waiting home, House of Hope and Dignity will have a trained midwife who will be able to better assess the needs of a mother-to-be before her labor erodes into a crisis.  An ambulance will be available for transportation should the need arise, and payment will not be required up front before the expectant mother can be transported to a hospital. 
 
The construction of House of Hope and Dignity is going well.  We anticipate our home being operational in 2022.  We are thankful for the support all of you have given us but much is still needed.  If you are able, please make an additional donation to us by clicking on this link.
 
Thank you!

If you are a regular reader of our blog, you know that a team will be traveling to Liberia next week to lay the foundation of House of Hope and Dignity, a maternity waiting home.  We are partnering with volunteers from NGO Office Manager Matthew Walters’ church, First Baptist Church Oldest Congo Town. 
 
Typically, the blog before a trip includes an introduction to the team members.  I find it inspirational to hear what causes a person to invest time and money in a trip to Liberia.  This time, however, you will meet most of the team after the trip.  All except Susie. 
 
This is Susie’s third trip to Liberia.  I met her last year at the airport in Newark, when we served together on a team.  I’m looking forward to serving with her again, and I am pleased to introduce her to you in her own words.

Meet Susie:
I love doing missions, loving on people and helping others. I also love meeting new people and seeing and experiencing different places and things.

I feel we’ve been able to help some of the lovely ladies in Liberia with their personal needs. Being female myself, I identify with the importance of these needs.
  
After becoming involved with Dignity:Liberia, it occurred to me that my own mother was a victim of fistula at the age of 16. Like many of the young ladies in Liberia, she was living at home with her parents after she got married, and my father was drafted into the military.  She became pregnant, and attempted birth at home like her mother and many others did in those years.  The doctor was called, and present, but delivery of my 9 ½ lb. sister was so difficult that it left my mother with a fistula.  Thank the Lord she was later able to have surgery, to be repaired.
 
I am a retired corrections officer; I spent 24 years with the Missouri Department of Corrections.  I just celebrated my 75th birthday in southern Louisiana, doing Disaster Relief with the Southern Baptist Association.  I enjoy physical activity, and the Chainsaw and Flood Recovery Teams in particular, in Disaster Relief.
 
During the past 12 years I’ve been on a Project Hope mission team to Managua, Nicaragua.  Besides donating to help them afford many ministries, I especially enjoy physically helping construct the little houses in the villages we build.  
 
Helping to build the medical facility in Liberia, like the houses in Nicaragua, would be so rewarding, knowing I have had such an impact on these peoples’ lives for years to come.
 
I’m anxious to see what part of the building activities I can actually physically do.  Then stand back and see the accomplishments.

I have a bird feeder and a couple of squirrel feeders in my front yard.  I love watching the birds and hearing their chirping.  The squirrels are entertaining to watch, particularly as they try to climb up (and slide down) the pole to the bird feeder. 
 
Last year a raccoon figured out how to open the metal trash cans I used for storing bird seed and corn, so I started storing the bags in my laundry room till one of the bags had pantry moths that led to a pantry moth infestation. 
 
After the pantry moth experience, I decided to move things back to the outside storage, and bought a Sterilite footlocker for that purpose.  Less than a week after I bought it, I found the latches raised and a huge hole where an animal had chewed through the plastic.  Not to be thwarted, I bought a small Sterilite box that I placed inside a chicken-wire enclosure.  One day I left the door to the enclosure open, and something (I think a squirrel) chewed a hole in the lid. 
 
I next tried storing the damaged box inside the damaged footlocker.  Not smart!  When I went to retrieve a bag of birdseed, I found a hole in the side of the inner box!  Experiencing one setback after another has been very discouraging - enough that I’ve thought of abandoning my efforts to provide for the wildlife that visits my yard. 
 
After suffering from her own fistula, Dignity:Liberia’s founder, Kathi Gutierrez, felt the calling to help combat obstetric fistula in Liberia, where she had previously lived.  Knowing the emotional and physical pain she had suffered while having ready access to medical help, she knew that Liberian girls and women with fistula had it much worse. 
 
In the more than ten years that Dignity:Liberia has been working in Liberia, both the United States and Liberia have elected new presidents.  There has been the worldwide COVID pandemic, which is still ongoing.  Liberia also suffered through the Ebola pandemic which not only killed thousands, but temporarily led to some prejudices against the country.  Both during the Ebola virus and during COVID, funding earmarked for fistula campaigns was reallocated to combat the viruses.  More recently, many foundations in the U.S. have shifted their focus from maternal healthcare to COVID relief and other causes. 
 
Despite all this, Dignity:Liberia never considered abandoning its plans to build its maternity waiting home, House of Hope and Dignity.  In fact, a team is heading there in less than a month to lay the foundation for the home!  Some plans can’t be thwarted.   
 
To learn more about House of Hope and Dignity, click on this link or scan the QR code in the photo gallery above.
 
Thank you for your support!

​My husband and I have been watching the long-awaited 2020 Summer Olympics.  As I write this, they are more than half over.  Dreams have been realized and hopes dashed.  We watched tears roll down the cheeks of some competitors, as what was expected to be an easy win turned into defeat.  Some athletes felt shame for having let down the expectations of their nations.
 
This made me think of the fistula survivors I’ve met.  They went into labor, expecting an easy birth and a newborn baby to care for and love.  However, what was expected to be an easy delivery was instead a stillbirth, leaving the woman incontinent, in tears, and sometimes requiring a hysterectomy.  Some survivors have commented on seeing disappointment in their husband’s eyes.  They feel ashamed for letting down their families.
 
During the team sports, such as gymnastics, some team members did poorly while others excelled.  Even while nursing their own regrets at what might have been, the gymnasts still supported their teammates.  They took genuine pleasure when their friends did well.
                                                                                                                              
This made me think of the Rehab Center.  Some of the fistula survivors have had successful fistula repair surgeries.  Others have not.  While still suffering as they continue to leak, the survivors are sincere in their joy when a friend is healed.
 
For me, the defining moment of these Olympic games was witnessing the reaction to 46-year-old Oksana Chusovitina perform her vault.  Her first vault was stunning, but the second one did not score enough for her to advance from the qualifying rounds.  In appreciation for her inspirational effort, the arena erupted with applause and a standing ovation from the only audience in attendance - coaches, fellow competitors, journalists, and the judges.  The unifying spirit in that moment is what the Olympics are all about.
 
For Dignity:Liberia, the interest and support of friends around the globe has been inspiring.  Friends in Liberia, the United Sates, the U.K., Australia, Sweden, Spain, Mexico, Canada, and Norway are united in their support of Dignity:Liberia’s goal to eliminate obstetric fistula in Liberia.  Our first step toward that goal is to build a maternity waiting home in Todee District in rural Liberia.  Help us realize our dream.  Please make a donation today toward the construction of House of Hope and Dignity.  Your support means so much!  Together we can do it!  Thank you!

“Don’t touch!”  I don’t know how many times I heard those words from my mother when I was a little girl, as I reached for a knickknack on someone’s coffee table. 
 
Since moving to Texas, I’ve become a touchy-feely person.  I’ll put my hand on a person’s arm or back when talking to them.  I’ve become a hugger.  I like to pet my cat and dog.  Not only is their fur soft, but the act of touching them is calming. 
 
I recently read a story in the Bible about a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years.  She was considered ceremonially unclean.  Not only did she suffer physically, but she was a social outcast.  I’ve read this story numerous times over the years.  After hearing about the experiences of several fistula survivors, I was struck by the similarities.  Not only did their condition cause them pain, but also emotional scarring.  Imagine never being touched because of a medical condition you can’t control. 
 
I think we all have a better understanding of what that is like after having to follow COVID protocols for more than a year.  To protect ourselves, we avoided social contact with others and when we did have to be in public, we maintained a distance of six feet.  Family members who had been exposed to the virus had to isolate in a different part of the house.  The restrictions took an emotional toll on us.
 
Even though an obstetric fistula is not contagious, hundreds of Liberian women and girls are avoided by their friends and family because they are leaking.  Hundreds!  Every day!  Their stories may cause you to cry.  If you are touched by their pain, I hope it inspires you to do something to help. 
 
Dignity:Liberia is building a maternity waiting home to minimize the likelihood of expectant mothers developing a fistula, and a clinic dedicated to treat those who develop this debilitating condition.  To learn more.  click on this link or scan the QR code.
 
In October, a team from the United States is flying to Liberia where, along with a team of Liberians, we will lay the foundation for House of Hope and Dignity.  You can be part of that effort.  A donation in any amount, whether $5 or $5,000 will make a difference.  Please open your hearts and checkbooks and give generously to House of Hope and Dignity.  Thank you! 

I love having a small vegetable garden.  Years ago, we built a small enclosure in our back yard to protect my vegetables from squirrels.  Over time, as tree limbs have created more of a canopy over the garden, my plants have gotten leggy and not produced the desired vegetables. 
 
This year I built a raised bed in a new location.  It was a great decision.  I’ve had a bumper crop of cucumbers.  My three vines have daily yielded the short, pickling cucumbers that I love to eat.  I also planted beans (yellow waxed) that are doing quite well.  The Nasturtiums (edible!) are a bushy riot of color.  The only thing that hasn’t fared as well are my tomato vines.  Just 3 tomatoes – hardly a dinner salad.
 
This is all just fun for me.  Don’t get me wrong.  I enjoy fresh vegetables.  When my husband first told me how much he prefers home grown vegetables to the store-bought ones, I had no idea what he meant.  I sure do now.  There is also something satisfying about digging in the dirt, watering, and checking for vegetables, but if I’m unsuccessful – as with my tomatoes – I can buy some in the store or at a farmer’s market.
 
At the Rehab Center, due to limited funding, the fistula survivors grow their own vegetables.  On one trip they posed with some huge pumpkins they had recently harvested.  This may seem a strange concept, especially to our readers in the United States.  We are used to a program’s administrators providing food and clothing to those in their care.  However, once House of Hope and Dignity is operational, we will follow the same concept. 
 
You will see that we have included a variety of seed types on our Containers of Hope supply needs Amazon Wish List. 
 
Click on the link to the list and scroll through the items.  Seed options include: corn, collard greens, okra, sweet pepper, and pumpkin.  We continue to help the Phebe Rehab Center and the fistula survivors residing there, even as we begin construction of our maternity waiting home.  Please take a few minutes to review the list and make a purchase.  We need medical supplies, educational supplies, general assistance and yes…items for our maternity waiting home. 
 
Encourage your friends to support us.  We are continually amazed, humbled, and grateful for your support.    

Kathy Beth Stavinoha
Kathy Beth lives and works in Austin, TX.  She graduated from high school in Monrovia, Liberia in 1977.

After my mother passed away in 1982, I found the Mother’s Day advertising on TV to be a painful reminder that I no longer had a mom to give a gift.  Now with email, the reminders show up in my In Box on a daily basis.  It seems that stores and nonprofits – including Dignity:Liberia - all have a Mothers’ Day message.  As painful as such messages used to be for me, I doubt it compares to that of a mother who has lost a child.
 
Most fistula survivors with whom I spoke have suffered stillbirth.  They carried their baby to term only to lose the child following a prolonged labor with questionable assistance from a birth attendant with no medical training.
 
A few years ago, people started wishing all women a happy Mother’s Day.  I felt that took away from all the moms who had gone through the highs and lows of raising a child.  I thought mothers deserved a special day of their own.  I’ve since reconsidered.  I have no children, yet many wonderful children have been in my life: nieces, nephews, children at church, and a number of first and second graders to whom I’ve been a reading buddy.  I imagine the children just want to show love and appreciation to those women who have assisted them along life’s journey.
 
We invite you to comment on this Facebook post with a picture of that special “mom” in your life – whether she’s your mother, daughter, or some other relation (or no relation) to you.  Tell us why she’s special.
 
We also ask that you make a donation to the construction of our maternity waiting home, House of Hope and Dignity, so that instead of a painful reminder, rural women in Liberia will have a joyful celebration of a special relationship on Mother’s Day.

I recently got my second COVID vaccine.  It’s been just over a year since the pandemic took off in the United States, and it seems as if we’ve been waiting for a long time for things to get back to “normal.”  I went to a mass vaccination center for my shots.  As I stood in the quick-moving, but long line, I was reminded of my first trip to Liberia as a dignity advocate.  On that trip, we gave vaccinations and distributed reading glasses at Charles Luke Town.  I remember the many villagers lining up to receive vaccines or glasses, much as I lined up for my shots.  That was nine years ago!
 
While we have engaged in various ministries (menstrual hygiene cup distribution days, sewing reusable menstrual pads, an agricultural trip) over the years, our main involvement, the heart and soul of Dignity:Liberia, has been working with survivors of obstetric fistula, trying to restore their dignity while engaging in craft projects and other fun activities.  We have never lost sight of our goal to combat obstetric fistula at its source by building a maternity waiting home in rural Liberia. 
 
We will soon meet that goal!  In February, many dignitaries attended the ground-breaking ceremony on the future site of House of Hope and Dignity.  The land has been cleared.  Blueprints are being drawn, and soon the yellow trucks (bulldozers) will be at work!  In October, a team of dignity advocates will go to Liberia to help with the building.  In partnership with First Baptist Church, Oldest Congo Town, we will be sifting sand, laying rebar, pouring the foundation, and placing plumbing.   
 
We have been waiting for this a long time.  We are so grateful to you for your unwavering support, prayers, donations, for spreading the word about us, and waiting with us.  

Kathy Beth Stavinoha
Kathy Beth lives and works in Austin, TX.  She graduated from high school in Monrovia, Liberia in 1977.