It was another oppressively hot Friday night at the health center in Ezo, South Sudan. Dr. Rachael Consoli, a physician with CMMB’s Safe Motherhood Program, received word that a CMMB rickshaw ambulance was rushing a woman who had complications during delivery to the health center.

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The woman had given birth safely at home earlier in the evening, but her placenta was stuck and needed to be removed surgically. The woman’s condition deteriorated during the long ride to the health center.  What was a routine surgical procedure quickly became life-threatening. Dr. Consoli and her team of Ugandan midwives had to work quickly.  They started to operate.

And that’s when the lights went out.

The outdated solar-powered lighting system had run out of power. Dr. Consoli quickly donned a heavy and unwieldy miner’s head lamp to continue the surgery while attendants scrambled to find flashlights before the new mother bled to death. Just imagine waiting ten, long minutes in the dark while you hold someone’s life in your hands. Dr. Consoli saved the mother that night, but reliable lighting at the health center remains an issue.

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We need you to partner with us to save the lives of vulnerable women and children. There is a good generator at the clinic, but it requires regular, skilled maintenance and spare parts to run efficiently.  With your support, we could keep the generator running smoothly. With your support, we could replace bulky miner’s lamps with lightweight, LED headlamps. With your support, we could replace the out-dated solar power system with a new high efficiency system that works rain or shine.

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” – CORINTHIANS 4:6

Your generous gift can be the difference between life and death for hundreds of thousands of women and children. Will you be the difference for the next mom who needs a simple surgery? Nothing could be more important.

Every life saved and all of the progress CMMB has made is because of donors like you. Please take advantage of this opportunity to shine your light on the world.