Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – Today, December 1, 2009, marks the beginning of the campaign being led by the Foundation MCO (Consolata Missions), called "Give the gift of life at Christmas.” The campaign aims to ensure a safe birth for babies and postnatal care for mothers and infants in the two worst-hit regions of Africa, where for more than thirty years the Missionaries of the Consolation have been operating. The campaign will affect the eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, bordering the region of Kivu, where ethnic conflicts are still ongoing, and southern Ethiopia, recently hit by one of the worst famines in recent decades.
According to a statement sent to Agenzia Fides, the Hospital of Our Lady of Consolation in Neisu, Congo, and the clinic at Modjo, Ethiopia already provide free health services to over seventy thousand people, including five thousand pregnant women and infants. "But in Neisu and Modjo," says the head of Cooperation at MCO, Fr. Antonio Rovelli, "the number of pregnant women who come to our facilities for a safe birth and neonatal care, is still rising." Thus, the foundation's missions is increasing at Neisu and Modjo, in regards to healthcare services and neonatal care. They are hoping to purchase new medical equipment and drugs, train twenty-five professional midwives, strengthen immunization services, expand the neonatal feeding center, and add on to services for prevention and treatment of malaria, and of course, engage in the fight against HIV/AIDS. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 1/12/2009)
