I consider it a priveldge to serve alongside those who work at the PIM Clinic. I want to be abundantly clear, I have had very little to do with any of the daily operations of the clinic. I work with the current staff in coordinating our various ministries (Clinic, CHE, Church Planting). The medical missionaries who trained and worked with our current staff did an outstanding job preparing them, but then again they all are outstanding people. Even though there are no longer any medical missionaries serving at the PIM Clinic, the clinic continues to have a leading reputation not only in our own region, but even nationwide.
The PIM Clinic is considered one of the tops in HIV care and has the highest retention rate of HIV patients in the country... 15% higher than the second highest rate! Recently the CDC, PEPFAR (the US government's HIV/AIDS program) and our partner Elisabeth Glacier Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) came to our mission center to hear a presentation about how we function and specifically how we apply CHE in our HIV care and follow-up.
The true strength of the clinic is not in its programs, but its servant-minded people. It's not just a job, but a ministry and testimony to the love of Jesus Christ. We, CMF together with our national partners at the clinic, believe that God is leading us to make the next big step in serving the people of Ivory Coast. One of the areas in HIV care that we have struggled with at times is maternity care. Young women who have HIV still become pregnant and there are special needs and considerations to help the mother and to avoid mother-to-child HIV transmissions. It has become increasingly difficult to keep our patients' confidentiality and also administer timely and essential medcations to best serve our patients. This is why we decided to open our own maternity. By opening the maternity, the PIM Clinic will become the first full-service pediatric AIDS care center in the country. The CDC, PEPFAR and EGPAF were really excited to hear of our plans.
Our HIV patients now number more than 2,500... and the number continues to grow daily. The number of expectant mothers also continues to grow. Combined with Abengourou's lack of good maternity services, we feel now is the time to start our own maternity. We had originally planned to build a new maternity on our existing property, though it was already crowded, but God presented us with a wonderful opportunity to purchase an adjacent property with all the necessary structures (with space for possible future growth) to start all the services we were hoping to build. The cost of the new property is one-third (33%) of what it would have cost us to build. God is good and His plan was so much better than our own.
The total budget for the new maternity project is $84,792. The purchase of the property is $40,384 and we hope to have commitments for those funds in the next month or so. The rest of the budget is for equipment and a few renovations of the property. We are also hoping to receive donations for equipment (incubator, ultrasound machine, etc.) from other groups, so feel free to pass along the info and contact others about this incredible opportunity. We have already been blessed to have a significant partnering church step forward (Lebanon Christian Church, IN) and pray for many others as well. Our goal is to start using the new facility by mid-2013.
Please be in prayer for the entire process. Even purchasing the property could be messy and problematic. The big issue facing us now is that the property is not "owned" by one individual, but the children of a man who died many years ago. The man had three wives and even though the heads of the children from each of the three wives have agreed on the deal, we are waiting to hear from the others involved. There are currently 17 people who must agree to our purchase price and sign paperwork. It just takes one of them to complicate things (i.e. thinking they can get more money out of us or wanting a larger share). Pray that God would continue to open hearts and doors for the project.
Pray also for new ministry partners to step forward and join us in this new task. We are hoping not only to have financial partners, but prayer partners and mission project teams (short-term mission teams) participating as well. We are also praying for someone to serve as a labor and delivery nurse and/or mid-wife during the first intial years (or even long-term)of the maternity.
I also want to pass along my sincere gratitude to the following people who previously served as missionaries in the PIM Clinic: Dr. Brenda Clark (who started the clinic with FAME Canada), Dr. Marvin Clark, Dr. Mike Mawdsley, Juli Duvall-Jones, Henri Buregea, Dr. Bernie Bledsoe (who was instrumental in starting the HIV/AIDS ministry), Carrie Walters and Judy Fish. Each one of them served faithfully and sacrificially to help establish the PIM Clinic and make it what it is today. Their impact and influence continues in the lives of those serving today and those receiving care in the name of Jesus Christ. May God continue to bless you and work through you today.
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