Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered in the Sydney suburb of Baulkham Hills this week (4 August) to assemble 600 kits for Birthing Kit Foundation Australia.
Each kit included a plastic sheet, soap, gloves, a sterile scalpel blade, three cords and five gauze squares.
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The group’s leader, Mark Allen, explained why he and other staff and missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Australia Service Centre in Carlingford wanted to support the project.
“We were so touched by the work that this charity does that we were happy to help, knowing that precious lives would be saved.”
According to the Birthing Kit Foundation, “60 million women give birth each year with the assistance of a traditional birth attendant or with no assistance at all. The United Nations (W.H.O.) estimates that 385,000 women die annually in childbirth. Developing countries account for 90% of these deaths. For every woman who dies in childbirth, another 30 women incur injuries and infections.”
Greg Willson, who suggested the “Mormon Helping Hands” project, said, “We, no doubt, would have wanted our own mothers to be able to give birth to us in the cleanest of possible environments, so why not involve ourselves in making that possible for 600 more mothers?”
Diane Moller, one of the volunteers, said, “I’m so happy to be of help for something like this. We don’t realise sometimes how lucky we are to live in the circumstances we do.”
The Mormon Helping Hands program reflects the desire of Latter-day Saints to follow the example of Jesus Christ by serving others. Community projects are coordinated by local Church leaders and funded by the donations of Latter-day Saints and others around the world.
See a short video about the humanitarian work of the Church in 185 countries around the world.