El SalvadorEl Salvador

Helping moms & babies in El Salvador

You are changing the lives of moms and babies. Here’s how.

Mom's & BabiesMom's & Babies
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The Need

Of the 5.2 million children who die around the world each year, 75 per cent die in the first year of life. Babies are at risk of death due to premature birth complications, complications during childbirth, infections, pneumonia and diarrhea. But this is preventable. With training and support, moms in poverty can be empowered to raise healthy and happy babies.

Our Response

Critical care
Your support helps secure access to pre- and postnatal care, skilled birth attendants and medical intervention when necessary.

Home-based care
Mothers are visited in their homes monthly by a Survival specialist, who offers education in prenatal care and early child-rearing as well as one-on-one biblical mentoring.

Group-based learning
At these church-based activities, moms learn skills to earn an income and gain vital knowledge including basic literacy, the importance of breastfeeding and how to prevent malnutrition and disease. These groups combat isolation through a supportive community of mothers who, together, learn about the God who loves them.

El Salvador Stats

Average number of children in household 4
Average age of first-time mothers 21
Births attended by skilled health personnel 84
Stunted growth from malnutrition 11

Activities

Provisions: Staff gave caregivers provisions to help them meet their families’ needs. Moms received monthly food baskets containing a variety of nutritious food items, so they could prepare healthy meals for their families. Staff distributed age-appropriate toys to babies and gave hygiene kits to families to help prevent the spread of diseases.

Group activities: Moms met together at their Compassion centres to learn about topics such as nutrition, breastfeeding, early childhood development, health and hygiene, disease prevention and how to correct their children with love and respect. During a lesson at the Canton Santa Barbara Survival Program, moms learned how to prepare nourishing soups and salads using locally available vegetables.

Physical health: Babies attended regular medical exams and were weighted and measured regularly to monitor their development and check for signs of illness or malnutrition. If needed, babies and moms were treated with supplemental foods, vitamins and medications. In Canton El Espinoi, moms and babies completed lab tests to check their general health and screen for certain infections and conditions.

Child development: Moms learned how to promote their children’s physical, emotional and cognitive development through fun activities, play, touch and communication. Moms and babies enjoyed spending time in the early stimulation rooms at their Compassion centres, which were filled with toys and decorations for babies to play with and explore. Moms also learned how to introduce their babies to colours and shapes.

Celebrations: Moms in Canton Santa Barbara enjoyed sharing delicious food, participating in a raffle, listening to a devotional lesson and watching a video together during a Children’s Day event at the centre. For birthdays and at Christmas, babies received presents and cake and families enjoyed socializing with one another. Moms and babies in Chalatenango celebrated with an outing to a waterpark. On Environment Day, they learned about the environment, played games, had a snack and made handicrafts using recycled materials. Celebrating these special events helped moms and babies feel loved and valued.

Spiritual nurture: During home visits and group activities, moms and babies heard the salvation message and grew and developed their faith. Staff prayed with families and shared Bible lessons. Babies were dedicated to God during church services and caregivers were encouraged to share their faith with their children by praying together, sharing age-appropriate Bible stories and worshipping God through song.

Project Stats

This intervention addressed:

Full-term births 11
Pregnancies 6
Breastfeeding Moms 6
Malnourished Babies - Severely Underweight 32
Attended births 8
Malnourished Babies - Moderately Underweight 11
Normal birth weights 11
Pastor Adán

ReportA message from a pastor

My name is Adan, the pastor at the holistic development centre ES0906 in Chalatenango, El Salvador. I am also the pastor of the church where the centre and Survival program are implemented. I would like to send you an affectionate greeting, wishing you many blessings from our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for being able to support our Survival program; without a doubt, God will reward you!

As a pastor, in addition to supporting different program activities, I give spiritual advice to the mothers who attend this program. We develop several activities through the program. The most outstanding are the delivery of basic food packages each month, toys for early childhood stimulation in their homes and hygiene kits that contain hand sanitizer and liquid soap. We also carry out medical checkups, celebrations and group meetings with interesting themes to support the development of the babies, lessons shared by psychologists and community service opportunities.

Many pregnant mothers in the community are satisfied with the program and how it is helping many families; the community sees that the children are healthier and so are their mothers. The children in the program are developing well in their physical and emotional development.

I hope that through the program, mothers will be able to participate in vocational workshops so they can earn an income for their homes and give better stability and life quality to their children. In addition, we hope to bring the message of the gospel to more families, so that the children and their families may receive Jesus as their personal Saviour.

We do not want to say goodbye before thanking you for sharing your blessings with so many families. We hope that God multiplies everything in your life. Thank you for your kind heart and for your generosity.

I ask you to please pray for the church, for more people to come to know Christ and that every child in the program may grow with the fear of God in their hearts.

Pastor Adán
Karen

ReportA message from those your gift helped

I send you a loving and respectful greeting, wishing you success in your daily work. My name is Karen. I am 20 years old. I am part of the ES0906 Nehemias Child Development Centre, located in the city of Chalatenango in the country of El Salvador.

I want to share with you that I am very grateful to God and to you. Thanks to the Survival program, we have enjoyed the benefits and teaching of the Word of God and have learned how to take care of ourselves and our babies.

My baby’s name is Sergio. He is a very happy and playful boy. When he was born, we felt very grateful to God because he was born healthy and that was very exciting.

In the Survival program, I have learned many things. The program gives us medical exams and checkups, food baskets, a hygiene kit and toys to continue stimulating our babies at home. They also celebrate our birthdays!

As a mother, I have made many achievements thanks to the program. I have learned to take care of my baby thanks to the classes and talks they give us, and I have learned early stimulation for my baby’s good development.

I now say goodbye to you, very grateful for all the help you give us. May God multiply it, take care of you and keep you every day of your life. I ask for your prayers for my baby Sergio so that he grows in the ways of God and that our family always remains together. I will be praying for you.

With love and blessings,

Karen