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A precious holiday gift linking the world

BY TOM BURKE | FOR THE OLYMPIAN • Published December 22, 2008

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I spend much of my time in a variety of places in the world. I usually find myself working with, and on behalf of, the poorest of the poor. So much of what I hear, see and do is difficult to spin in a happy light.

Today, however, I want to tell you a story about an inspiring holiday gift that has come from the combined efforts of so many: doctors and their families in Olympia; two travel companies in Seattle; bioengineers, nurses, doctors and students at Massachusetts General Hospital and the other Harvard hospitals; two ultrasound companies in Seattle; and other volunteer health care providers and everyday people across our nation, and even from the United Kingdom and Sweden. Kapiri District, Zambia

Eleven months ago, we began our work in the Kapiri District of Zambia.

The Kapiri District is a rural environment and home to about 320,000 people. The geography comfortably rolls into the distance with grasses and trees displayed in countless shades of green.

One District Hospital is the center of health care for the population. Despite being on the verge of collapse, the hospital provides a roof for its one doctor, three clinical officers and several nurses.

Twenty-four health centers dot the countryside bringing rudimentary preventative services and some basic therapeutic health care to local villagers.

In the Kapiri District, half of the women die or become injured from pregnancy, and one in nine infants die during the process of delivery. These are staggering statistics that without change will suffocate people into endless poverty and marginal survival.

Our efforts have been focused principally around embedding skills that can directly reduce the death and injury rates of the mothers and babies of this region. We have trained midwives, built a birthing center and are training Zambians to provide the necessary care to run their new operating room, which was made possible because of people like you.

The gift of life

The daily accounts of Zambian women’s and children’s lives saved and improved are remarkable and moving, but additionally the story of how so many of you have helped make this happen is inspiring.