Crisis Nurseries

Who takes care of children in Africa when their parents die? Most often grandmothers or great grandmothers care for the orphans as long as they are able. Pictured on the right, this great grandmother’s prayer is to live long enough to raise her grandchild or find someone who will help her. 
 
Crisis Nurseries help grandparents care for children by providing food supplements and spiritual support through local church partners. These partners step in to help the extended family care for the children when the elderly can no longer do so. One of the programs Crisis Nurseries sponsors is called Milk and Medicine.
 
A widowed grandmother caring for her orphaned grandson explained, “Before he started the milk program he was sick and very thin, but now he is big and active. He is healthy. Even the neighbors are very surprised at how well he is doing because he was very small at the time his last parent, the father, died. At one time I thought he was going to die. I lost hope that he was going to live because his parents left him (died) when he was a very small tiny baby. I was full of fear. I didn't know what to do. Had it not been for the food and support we get from this program, it would have been a very big problem for me.”
 
A nursing infant cannot survive without milk. A household trying to live on $1 each day cannot afford even a single can of infant formula or even a small bottle of milk. When an infant has a safe place with family but is in danger because of a lack of safe milk, the Milk and Medicine Program steps in.
 
For the past six years, Milk and Medicine has been a lifeline of survival for infants whose mothers have either died or have AIDS and cannot safely breastfeed. Currently, 136 babies and toddlers are receiving infant formula, food supplements, clothing, and prescription medication, while their caregivers receive the Gospel, prayer, and counseling.

Grateful for your partnership,

The Outreach Foundation