OM's ministries in Afghanistan

The women of Afghanistan have to fight to survive. Everyday they
cope with the aftermath of war and many bring up families in basic
living conditions. They have the highest tuberculosis rate in the
world and the 2nd highest maternal mortality rate. Their average
life expentancy is 43 years. Often women walk long miles to get
to a medical clinic. They are willing to accept treatment from
any moderately-qualified women available - even if she's a vet.

Kyung in working with OM's partner organization, Operation Mercy.
She and her team are committed to visiting villages in order to
promote good hygiene and safe birthy childbirth methods.

"Since my arrival in Afghanistan, i've learnt a lot about traditional
treatments for pregnancy and birthy. Often a fully pregnant mother
stands over a fire before jumping down from high place in order to
help push the baby out. Then she delivers her baby on an earth floor.
The cord is cut by a stone or scythe in the hope that the baby will
become strong. As a result many newborns contract tetanus.
The baby is wrapped with a blacnket and rope so that he keeps on
sleeping for a long time. During the 1st week the mother does not
breast feed the baby at all.

Along with a small team of Afghan staff, I'l starting to train traditional
birth attendants in health education. We began in a small village
with 13 women, all of whom were very eager to learn. We soon realised
that most of them had never received any education. So it wook a long
time for them to understand simple lesson! Now the 3 with the best
understanding and teaching skills are training other women in the
community. So far 7 health lessons have been held by the trained
women and 73 have attended.

All the village women have the chance to receive food, hygiene packs and
delivery kits in return for producing good quality embroidery. In this
way, they can "work" while learning how to keep themselves and their
children healthy.

For more info about Operation Mercy's ministries, please visit:
www.mercy.se