All Saints Church
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Mission Statement
Villanueva, Nicaragua is a small town and its extended area of 30 villages. As with many rural areas of Nicaragua, maternal death in childbirth was a big problem. Our parishes became involved in helping to stem the maternal mortality in the early 1990's. We support a network of about 100 Nicaraguan volunteer health workers who monitor the health of mothers and their new born children. No woman in the program has died since 1996.
About This Cause
All Saints and St. Lucy's Catholic Churches in Syracuse, NY are committed to sending $12,000/year to the "Brigadista Program of Villanueva, Nicaragua." Brigadistas are volunteer heath care workers recruited from the town of Villanueva and the villages in a 25 mile radius of the town. Our financial assistance is used to educate these people so that they can better attend pregnant mothers and their new born children. The men and women volunteers come into Villanueva once a month where they are given courses in maternal and child health care by nurses who volunteer their services. No one in the program receives any compensation. Our money supplies food for lunch, transportation for those living a distance from the Center, some medicines and other supplies and a Christmas party at the end of the year. Some of our money also goes to the "Casa Materna" (The Mothering House). Once pregnant women come close to birth, the Brigadista with whom they are working sends them into Villanueva so that the baby can be born in the clinic. Our money goes to furnishing and supplying food to the "Casa Materna." This is a 6-8 bed facility across the street from the clinic. Women stay there a week or so before birth and are attended by a physician. Another expense that we cover is capital improvements. We have built a large building, or Center, for the monthly education. We have also donated a used ultrasound machine, supplied bikes for Brigadistas who live a longer distance from the town and supplied the "Casa Materna" with a television, stove and refrigerator. The Villanueva Project also includes recruiting parishioners and other Americans to visit Villanueva. The purpose of the visits is to educate Americans in the reality of Nicaraguan life. None of the $12,000 is used for this travel, although we consider it an essential part of our mission. Our parishioners are escorted by Spanish speaking members of the parishes and taken incredibly good care of by the Nicaraguan "Directiva" of the program while in Villanueva. The undeniable success of the program, we believe, is the local responsibility. The program depends on volunteer, local Nicaraguans not on Americans. These volunteers, many of whom are illiterate, are committed to seeing that their neighbors are well taken care of. The financial resources that our parishes supply is essential but it is no more important than that commitment.