Sister Alphonsina Mwenya, of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Charles Borromeo in Zambia, greets a mother and her baby.
The birth of a child should be a time of joy, but for poor women living in developing countries, this major life event can quickly become a time of danger and loss. Without access to medical care, many expectant mothers labor and give birth inside makeshift homes with dirt floors.
For women in these conditions, the risks are tragically high. An alarming number of mothers and babies die due to preventable diseases and complications, sometimes while making a last desperate attempt to reach the nearest health center, hours away.
Thankfully, compassionate Catholics are stepping up to fill the gap and bring clean, modern healthcare to mothers and babies in Zambia, the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia and beyond. Cross Catholic Outreach is proud to partner with trusted clinics and shelters run by sisters, priests and lay ministries — and we’re asking you to join us too. Help protect precious lives by supporting our fund for new mothers!
All too often, new mothers must navigate pregnancy complications and childbirth without modern medical care. For many of these women, bringing a child into the world is not only painful but also dangerous. Tragically, many do not survive the experience.
Your support can make all the difference. With funding from compassionate Catholics around the world, our trusted ministry partners are providing skilled medical care to impoverished women and children.
Will you join Cross Catholic Outreach in supporting mothers in need? Give today to bless women and babies worldwide.
Chamilala is a rural community in Zambia, hours from any major city. Due to widespread unemployment and instability, many families in Chamilala struggle to survive.
The Sisters of Mercy of St. Charles Borromeo founded St. Joseph’s Rural Health Center and Mothers’ Shelter to address Chamilala’s critical lack of medical care. Here, mothers in need are blessed with prenatal care, postnatal care and professional medical assistance as they give birth.
The sisters are doing amazing work in Zambia, but they can’t continue without your support. Please give today to bless poor mothers and their babies with lifesaving care!
Elidah was expecting her fifth child and knew that proper medical care during labor and delivery was important. The problem? She didn’t have access to health services in her area. Nevertheless, this hardworking woman was determined to do her best for the health of her unborn child and herself.
Elidah is from Mozambique, and in a place where most journeys are made on foot, St. Joseph’s Rural Health Center and Mothers’ Shelter was a long way from home — more than 30 miles.
In her condition, walking that distance would have been nearly impossible, so Elidah paid to travel by motorbike. This cost $20, a large amount for a poor farming family.
Despite that challenge, Elidah is grateful and knows the investment to reach professional care is worthwhile. If it weren’t for St. Joseph’s, she would have had to travel all the way to Nyimba, a six-hour journey by motorbike.
Expressing her feelings about the Mothers’ Shelter at St. Joseph’s, Elidah smiled and said enthusiastically, “They helped us with food and clothes for the babies. I thank God because he has done a lot of good things in my life — and not least to bring this hospital nearby.”
Community-Building:
St. Joseph’s Rural Health Center and Mothers’ Shelter has been warmly welcomed by those in and around Chamilala. In fact, the clinic now performs outreach activities in seven zones to reduce the need for travel. Additionally, a network of over 100 volunteers supports the clinic’s work, shuttling mothers to and from their appointments by bicycle and providing other aid.
Continuing Care:
While assisting mothers through childbirth is a primary goal of the Mothers’ Shelter, St. Joseph’s also provides continuing care to families in need. Children are routinely brought to the center to be screened for signs of malnutrition, receive nutritional support, and get treatment for malaria and other common illnesses. Patients with special conditions, such as HIV, are also given compassionate care and crucial medications.
Integral Human Development:
For a community to break the cycle of poverty and build systems that help families flourish, it’s crucial to address critical shortages of resources such as food, water, housing, economic opportunity and healthcare. St. Joseph’s Rural Health Center and Mothers’ Shelter reaches the root of the healthcare problem in Chamilala, bringing lifesaving intervention to those who need it most. With the health center’s help, maternal and infant mortality have been reduced and the sick are being healed, creating conditions for community-wide flourishing.
Your generosity will help empower ministries worldwide. Here are a few of the other trusted partners your gift will support.
Thanks to gifts from compassionate Catholics in the U.S., the St. Gabriel Catholic Health Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is providing mothers with a safe place to deliver their babies. In addition to support for birthing mothers, the caring medical staff at St. Gabriel offers prenatal supplements to prevent anemia; provides polio and measles vaccinations for children; and holds educational sessions on maternal health, nutrition, hygiene and infant care for new mothers. Your support will help keep this important health resource available to impoverished families in Ethiopia.
Cross Catholic Outreach delivers health and medical supplies to our partner in the Dominican Republic, The Good Samaritan Hospital. This hospital provides comprehensive, high-quality healthcare to El Seibo and surrounding communities, including rural and hard-to-reach areas. We are proud to ship items such as prenatal vitamins to help the hospital aid pregnant women throughout its vast network. These supplements help ensure healthy pregnancies and healthy infants.
A lab technician at St. Joseph’s Rural Health Center and Mothers’ Shelter helps provide medical care to women in poverty.
The gift of a new life is priceless — but pregnancy complications, unsanitary birthing spaces and a lack of prenatal care present real dangers to women and their babies in developing countries. You can help bless these mothers-to-be with the healthcare and vitamins they need. Give today to uphold the sanctity of life, ensuring that women can safely bring their precious little ones into the world.
Use it for reflections and notes to grow in your spiritual life. You’ll also receive a prayer request form to mail back so that we can pray for your needs. In effect, this creates a spiritual bridge to connect you to our sisters and brothers in Christ in the developing world!
Cross Mission Partners also receive a semiannual Mission Update with news, insights and information about the good work and accomplishments made possible by your support.
Every dollar helps us bless the least of our brothers and sisters throughout Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Mexico & Central America and South America.
Thank You for Your Special Commitment to Serving the Poor!
It’s easy to shop through the Cross Catholic Outreach Project Catalog. Simply browse the categories and choose an item within your budget and close to your heart, such as Anti-Trafficking and Girls’ Rescue or Most Urgent Needs. Select and sponsor one or more of these gifts, and you’ll make a meaningful impact on the life of a needy child or family. It’s that simple!
Absolutely! Once you select your items, you’ll be given the option of sending an e-card or printing a customizable certificate. This is a meaningful way to share Christ’s love with others while also honoring friends and family.
We are a Catholic ministry that partners with bishops, priests, religious and lay workers to provide Food, Water & Health, Housing, Kids & Education, Women & Girls, Disaster Relief, Farming & Loans opportunities and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ to the poor and vulnerable in over 30 countries around the world.
Donations from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures for this project incurred through June 30, 2027, the close of our ministry’s fiscal year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project, the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.