Guided by Our Faith to Serve
CMMB has put our Catholic faith into action for more than a century. Guided by our core values—collaboration, love, excellence, accountability, and respect—we help deliver sustainable health solutions to the most remote and underserved corners of the world. In 2024, we reached 1.4 million people with access to health and other life-changing services. Through our Access to Medicines program alone, we extended our reach to 32 countries.
Our service to women, children, and their communities at CMMB—especially in times of crisis—is grounded in the enduring principles of Catholic social teaching. Although rooted in Catholicism, the tenets of its social teaching reflect universal values—values that can inspire action among those seeking to make a difference in the world.
1. Life and Dignity of the Human Person
Photo by MedGlobal
All human life is sacred, every human being is precious, and all the world’s people should be treated with dignity. This theme is central to CMMB’s identity. In fact, it’s our
But in many places, violence, political persecution, and ethnic and religious discrimination threaten this value. In refugee camps in Bangladesh, displaced people from Myanmar, including Rohingya, live in dire circumstances. Those with noncommunicable diseases, like diabetes, often suffer without lifesaving medication. Through our Access to Medicines program, CMMB delivers medicines, including diabetes medication, to refugees, like those in Bangladesh—delivering dignity even in the most challenging situations.
2. Call to Family, Community, and Participation
Families, in all their forms, are the building blocks of our communities. A fair society supports families and their right to take part in their communities, no matter their ability, background, gender, economic status, or education level.
Yet some families are left in the shadows. In the rural communities of Trujillo and Huancayo, Peru, children with disabilities are often isolated because of fear and stigma. In these communities, CMMB’s Rehabilitation with Hope program serves children with disabilities, providing them with physical therapy, nutrition and health counseling, and social support.
The support CMMB provides is life-changing—not just for children, but for their families, too. By giving them the support they need to thrive, we empower families and children with disabilities to more fully participate in their communities.
3. Rights and Responsibilities
All people have the right to life, with access to the resources they need to live with dignity. In many parts of the world, people survive without basic necessities. With better healthcare, education, and access to nutritious food and safe water, more women and children will thrive.
Access to healthcare is critical for expectant mothers. But every day, more than 700 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Nearly all of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, where women often give birth at home, without skilled care.
At CMMB, we are committed to ending this crisis. All women have the right to a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery. In Zambia, where long distances make reaching a rural health facility nearly impossible for a woman in labor, we have constructed new mothers’ shelters in or around rural health facilities, providing a safe place to stay for mothers-to-be awaiting their due date.
4. Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
In a world marked by inequality, the gap between rich and poor continues to grow. CMMB focuses on serving women and children, often the most vulnerable members of society. By helping women feel empowered, receive education, and live healthy, we can strengthen families and entire communities.
Our founder began CMMB’s legacy of service in Haiti, now the site of one of our largest country programs. Driven by our values, CMMB continues to. With our partner Hope for Haiti, CMMB brings critical medications to the poor and vulnerable in the country’s most hard-to-reach regions.
5. The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
Work should be dignified, and every worker deserves basic rights and protections. But in underserved and remote regions, healthcare workers face incredible challenges, like overwhelming patient need, lack of equipment and supplies, and unsafe working conditions.
At CMMB, we know that healthcare workers are the heart of global health. CMMB-supported healthcare workers and volunteers save lives every day. We support their work by advocating for them and with them, providing supplies and training on critical health areas, and sharing their stories.
6. Solidarity
No matter where we live, what we look like, or what we believe, we are one human family. All of us are called to love our neighbor. At CMMB, we live out this value through partnerships that support locally driven, sustainable solutions. In South Sudan, for example, we support St. Theresa Mission Hospital in Nzara to strengthen health systems and improve care.
Recently, CMMB volunteer Dr. Mahvash Madni spent three months at St. Theresa. A pediatrician from upstate New York, Dr. Mahvash shared guidance with the hospital’s staff about treating children suffering from acute malnutrition and other serious diseases like malaria. When she arrived at work each day, her new colleagues would greet her with a smile and a message of solidarity: “You are welcome.”
7. Care for God’s Creation
We are called to protect people and the planet we all share. That means caring for the environment and acting in ways that safeguard the Earth for future generations—like making sure remote populations have reliable access to safe water.
In water-stressed communities, CMMB is expanding access to safe drinking water by distributing P&G Purifier of Water (POW) sachets, educating families on healthy hygiene and water treatment, and helping to expand safe water infrastructure by installing rainwater storage tanks and drilling boreholes and wells.
CMMB’s Commitment to Social Justice
Families around the world are in crisis. Firm in our faith, CMMB is driven to respond to crises wherever they occur. We have advocated to see Kenya’s community health promoters recognized for their vital role in healthcare delivery and compensated for their service. Also in Kenya, we spread awareness about the abuse and violence that too many young girls face, especially in rural communities, providing safe spaces and legal support. When we help more people raise their voices, we promote a more just world.
With less funding for international healthcare, service to the poor and vulnerable is more important than ever. With support from people of goodwill everywhere, we will continue to make a difference in the lives of those who need us the most.
