Crisis Nurseries

House of Moses, one of three Crisis Nurseries that The Outreach Foundation partners with in Lusaka, is fighting to save abandoned infants in Zambia. Why would any mother abandon her child? Some leave their infant on door steps or in front of a school in hopes they will be found and cared for. Did the mother have AIDS and no strength, or was she unmarried and banished from her home? Was she too poor to buy milk and cereal? No one really ever knows why, we just know that we must preserve the lives of these precious little children.
 
One such child is Mercy. A sister from the Mother Theresa orphanage in Lusaka walked outside of the gate to find a baby girl with a note pinned to her blanket saying the child’s name was Mercy, and the mother was sick and could not care for her daughter. She was terrified her baby would die. Mercy was severely malnourished. There was only one option….leave her daughter where she might be found by someone who would take pity on the child and help. It was a huge risk. If the child was not found quickly she would die. But if the mother did not grab this one chance it was certain her daughter would die. She had to at least try.
 
The police quickly brought Mercy to House of Moses, the only facility in Zambia with 24/7 nursing care for pre-mature and abandoned babies. Mercy looked like she was about a year and a half old, but she could not walk or crawl.  She was given a special diet for malnourished babies, and the nurses and caregivers were careful to hold her and pray for her as much as possible. Now she can stand and her smile lights up the nursery. Her mother has not returned, and Mercy will likely be adopted by a Zambian couple when she is restored to health.
 
While Christmas in most parts of the world is a time for gifts and toys for children and grandchildren, Zambian mothers want most of all to give their children the gift of a hopeful life. House of Moses provides infant formula and cereal to desperate mothers, all at no cost. There is a long waiting list of mothers who need help. A gift of $20 a month will provide infant formula for one child, and $100 will provide a caring worker at House of Moses to restore children to good health and big smiles. We need your help to preserve these precious children. House of Moses rescued 75 infants in 2010 and many more in 2011.
 
Grateful for your partnership,

The Outreach Foundation