During my volunteer medical missions in Africa, I often thought that I would wish for some of what I observed in children’s lives there for our own children: mostly natural births, extended breastfeeding, simple and tasty nutrition afterwards, being constantly carried by the mother and older siblings, feeling secure with relatives (as the saying goes: ‘It takes a whole village to raise a child’), and the joy and creativity found in simple play with many playmates.
Good government vaccination programs help protect against tuberculosis or polio, and well-nourished children usually cope well even with more severe infections like malaria or diarrheal diseases. There are also good primary and secondary schools and universities with dedicated teachers. Unfortunately, however, these supportive conditions are inaccessible to many children.
Many pregnancies are unwanted, births are complicated, and mothers — often left to manage alone — are frequently chronically ill and malnourished, living in isolation in vast slums or impoverished rural areas under unimaginable spatial and hygienic conditions. They have too little to eat and simply cannot afford necessary medical care for their children or a good education. Here, the Austrian Doctors can help on many levels: It begins with sensible family planning, pregnancy and birth support (for example, in cooperation with the Austrian organization ‘Rainworker’), nutritional counseling and feeding programs in our clinics for undernourished and sick children, medical diagnostics and treatment, and, in some cases, financing of hospital stays. Preschools relieve parents and grandparents, enabling them to find work.
We also fund schools with up to 300 children in remote steppe regions. Drilling wells, supporting sustainable agriculture, and reforestation programs also ensure adequate and healthy nutrition for the school children there.
Together, we can improve the lives of thousands of children through our projects in Kenya and Ethiopia.
Your Dr. Christian Gross
Chairman of Austrian Doctors
