A healthy mother, infant and other child – Care for Life is in the “orphan prevention business.”
Mothers die giving birth in Mozambique, leaving a torrent of orphans in their wake. In 2001 we started a non-profit organization known as Care for Life, mostly on a challenge to Cindy to share her midwifery skills in an area of the world with a very high infant and maternal mortality rate. Ironically, Cindy has never delivered a single infant in Mozambique, but the unique approach of Care for Life over the past ten years now contributes directly to the saving and betterment of thousands of mothers, infants, and others.
Blair and Cindy Packard, founders of Care for Life.
Board member Bradley McBride described the situation: “Every year about this time, the torrential rains descend on Mozambique, causing widespread flooding that impacts thousands of people. Many lose their homes, many lose their lives, and the survivors pick up the pieces and deal with the consequences of the flooding. Even though they know the floods are coming, no one ever looks up at the sky and tries to figure out a way to stop the rain. Why waste time on the impossible?
“In all parts of Africa, and many other parts of the world, there is a growing flood of orphaned children. UNICEF estimates that there are between 143 and 210 MILLION orphans worldwide, with over 2 million more orphaned children in Africa every year. It is truly a flood of tragic proportions. Thankfully, there are many wonderful, caring people and organizations that do everything humanly possible to care for these orphans by providing food, shelter, clothing, education, adoptions and love. It is truly a wonderful work they are doing, trying to manage the flood and its consequences.
“We at Care for Life applaud these noble efforts. However, our focus is a bit different. We are standing in the storm, looking up at the sky, trying to figure out how to turn off the rain. Simply put, we are in the orphan prevention business.
“Since its creation, Care for Life (CFL) has been working to help orphans, but also to help families stay intact to prevent the children from becoming orphans. One of CFL's earliest efforts undertaken in Mozambique was to teach expectant mothers what they need to know and do to help both themselves and their infants survive pregnancy and delivery. When a mother survives, one less raindrop enters the flood.
Villagers in the Family Preservation Program hold their completed goal sheets aloft as they participate in a “Day of Celebration” of their success.
“The focus of CFL has become the quest to preserve families. Healthy, intact families are the answer to the world's orphan crisis. Children and parents who understand sanitation, nutrition and hygiene stay healthier. Children whose parents provide income and grow gardens are fed. Children and parents who understand how to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS last longer. Children participating in the Family Preservation Program do not get pulled into the flood.
“Since the Family Preservation Program (FPP) began four years ago, over a thousand babies have been born to the mothers participating in the program. Not one of the mothers has died from complications of childbirth.
“Not one.
“There are over 14,000 people who have or are currently participating in FPP, and we acknowledge that one day, one of the hundreds of expectant mothers will not survive. But we will do all we can to see that it doesn't happen. We intend to stop the rain.”
A Focused Organization
Care for Life (CFL) is still a relatively small and focused organization as far as NGOs go in the developing world. We work only in the Sofala Province of central Mozambique with our full-time staff of about 60 that includes field officers, supervisors and program administrators – all Mozambican. Our mission and focus remains unchanged – to “Relieve Suffering, Promote Self-Reliance, and Instill Hope.”
A village woman stands in front of hand-made bricks made in anticipation of home improvement she will soon see.
In the last five years CFL developed and implemented a highly effective transformational development program known as the Family Preservation Program. Entire villages, usually with 200-300 families, are organized by CFL into zones and districts. In just two to three years, all are instructed, encouraged, helped and closely trained to work together to make lasting and sustainable changes in their lives that center around 8 Areas of Emphasis. We then exit each village as an organization but leave behind life-changing skills and commitments. The 8 Areas of Emphasis, each with multiple subcategories of activities, education and skill development, and measureable goals include (see circle):
Acknowledgment of Success
CFL’s approach led the Christian Science Monitor to relate in September 2007 that, “Care For Life, a US-based charity that is staffed primarily with Mozambicans, is at the forefront of what has become a new trend in foreign aid to Africa.” In November of 2010, the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy in partnership with the U.S. State Department’s Office of Public Diplomacy & Public Affairs chose Care for Life as one of the ten “Best Practices in Global Health for 2010.” This acknowledgement may have come in part from the remarkable success the Family Preservation Program has had in decreasing maternal mortality rates.
We are also grateful for and acknowledge the support we have had from many individuals and organizations. We have partnered with the Church’s Humanitarian Department in the past on water projects in CFL communities, with maternal health and childbirth education training initiatives, and have also received capacity development grants and short term missionaries from the Church who have worked with us as an organization.
Story from a Program Participant
The program’s success is best appreciated, however, from the perspective of its participants. Here is the story of Ana Dança from Nhamatanda, a community in central Mozambique about 200 kilometers inland from Beira and Manga where CFL is headquartered in Mozambique.
In this photo, Ana Dança, stands in her garden with her family holding her goal sheet from Care for Life’s Family Preservation Program. This is her story, told in her own words.
“I am 45 years old and have four children. When I was a young woman I could not believe that I would come to have my own children. I was very sick since I was five when I got intestinal tuberculosis.
Nobody believed that I would survive, but I had hope that I would. From 5 to 19 I was taken to the hospital 190 times. In that time I was attending the 6th grade and many days I used to go direct from the school to the hospital.
Unfortunately because of my health problems, my father decided that I should stop studying. Not long after that, and despite my health problems, I met the man that came to become my beloved husband. He knew that I love going to school and want me to go to school again. I returned to school, but still with many health problems.
When I was pregnant of my first son, I stopped going to school again and never returned.
“When the baby was born I need to stay at the hospital for more than 30 days.
During this time my mom took care of the baby. Even though my health problems I still have hope to keep living with that man that decided to live with me, even knowing my health condition. He learned that a specialist was in Beira, and made the arrangements for me to have a consultation with that doctor. It was that doctor that figured out that I had intestinal tuberculosis and immediately I was sent to Maputo to receive intensive care. The treatment took five years. Finally I was restored to health I return home, but in that same month my husband was transferred to Maputo, and we got separated again, and that time forever, because he passed way when he was there. He passed way in August 2008.
“In 2009, my children and I were forced to move from our house in Beira. We decided to find a place in Nhamatanda. The Secretary indicated a place where we could build our house. When we were building the house they started building a well besides my house. They told me that they were building that well as part of a “white people’s organization” called Care for Life. Immediately I remembered that was the same organization that was working with the families in Mungassa, where I used to live. Unfortunately I could not participate of the program that time because I lived on the other side of the road and were not included. During that time I learned with my neighbors that participated of the program about goals and even not being registered I started doing those things like my neighbors that participated of the program did.
“So, I was very, very happy to know that CFL was there where I was living. I said to myself: ‘I will surprise CFL’ and started doing everything that I knew they would ask me to do, before they come to my house. When Adilson, the Field Officer came to my house first time, I showed him all the goals that I was accomplishing already. He was very happy, and I was included in the program. Today I have everything that I need and do everything that CFL wants me to do. I have a latrine, a bathhouse, a tarimba, this beautiful garden, and bricks ready to start building our improved own house.
“I would like to encourage whoever reads this message to do everything, because it is for your own benefit and the benefit of your children and don’t lose time doing the things that are good for you only in exchange for rewards, but do it because of the health of your family.” – Ana Dança
Where is CFL going from here?
As we see individuals and families blessed by their own commitment to improve their lives, we are driven by a sense of obligation to more broadly share their success. In the coming years our intent is not to grow large as an organization but simply to share its successes. We have carefully documented the program content and gathered the statistical data for our use and for analysis by others. We will likely go through a period of time now where external researchers examine and publish their scrutiny of the FPP approach, to see how it stands up against other development approaches, validating its effectiveness. Beyond that, we want to find ways to share the program with other organizations world-wide. The Family Preservation Program, we believe, will prove to be adaptable, transferable, and scalable to different population sizes, cultures and nationalities. Our future lies in sharing it with other development agencies and organizations and seeing it bless more lives throughout the world.
The feet of Mozambican women – whose load is made a little lighter through the Family Preservation Program.
Joseph Smith wrote in December 1840 to members of the Quorum of the Twelve then serving in Great Britain that,
“A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.”
This quote is often linked today to humanitarian service. Indeed, in 2005 while serving with the international measles campaign, we used this exact quote in a presentation to visiting Church and American Red Cross dignitaries to emphasize commonality in mission, and why the Red Cross and the Church for so long have been able to see eye-to-eye and to work so successfully as partners on various projects dating back to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire relief efforts.
Humanitarian work and ecclesiastical work are not two separate things. When we are asked, because of our work in Mozambique as humanitarians and as Church leaders, which is most important, our answer is that we don’t see the distinction. Joseph likely didn’t see a distinction as he counseled his brethren in Great Britain to bless others because of who they represented and what they believed. If the work of Care for Life can assist in building temporal centers of strength to help the building of future spiritual strength, home by home and community by community, we simply see it as “blessing the whole human race.” It is in this spirit that Care for Life continues to exist and work as an organization.
To learn more about Care for Life, go to careforlife.org
Blair and Cindy Packard have been involved in Mozambique for the last 11 years. They founded Care for Life 10 years ago and now serve on its board of directors.
A healthy mother, infant and other child – Care for Life is in the “orphan prevention business.”
Mothers die giving birth in Mozambique, leaving a torrent of orphans in their wake. In 2001 we started a non-profit organization known as Care for Life, mostly on a challenge to Cindy to share her midwifery skills in an area of the world with a very high infant and maternal mortality rate. Ironically, Cindy has never delivered a single infant in Mozambique, but the unique approach of Care for Life over the past ten years now contributes directly to the saving and betterment of thousands of mothers, infants, and others.
Blair and Cindy Packard, founders of Care for Life.
Board member Bradley McBride described the situation: “Every year about this time, the torrential rains descend on Mozambique, causing widespread flooding that impacts thousands of people. Many lose their homes, many lose their lives, and the survivors pick up the pieces and deal with the consequences of the flooding. Even though they know the floods are coming, no one ever looks up at the sky and tries to figure out a way to stop the rain. Why waste time on the impossible?
“In all parts of Africa, and many other parts of the world, there is a growing flood of orphaned children. UNICEF estimates that there are between 143 and 210 MILLION orphans worldwide, with over 2 million more orphaned children in Africa every year. It is truly a flood of tragic proportions. Thankfully, there are many wonderful, caring people and organizations that do everything humanly possible to care for these orphans by providing food, shelter, clothing, education, adoptions and love. It is truly a wonderful work they are doing, trying to manage the flood and its consequences.
“We at Care for Life applaud these noble efforts. However, our focus is a bit different. We are standing in the storm, looking up at the sky, trying to figure out how to turn off the rain. Simply put, we are in the orphan prevention business.
“Since its creation, Care for Life (CFL) has been working to help orphans, but also to help families stay intact to prevent the children from becoming orphans. One of CFL's earliest efforts undertaken in Mozambique was to teach expectant mothers what they need to know and do to help both themselves and their infants survive pregnancy and delivery. When a mother survives, one less raindrop enters the flood.
Villagers in the Family Preservation Program hold their completed goal sheets aloft as they participate in a “Day of Celebration” of their success.
“The focus of CFL has become the quest to preserve families. Healthy, intact families are the answer to the world's orphan crisis. Children and parents who understand sanitation, nutrition and hygiene stay healthier. Children whose parents provide income and grow gardens are fed. Children and parents who understand how to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS last longer. Children participating in the Family Preservation Program do not get pulled into the flood.
“Since the Family Preservation Program (FPP) began four years ago, over a thousand babies have been born to the mothers participating in the program. Not one of the mothers has died from complications of childbirth.
“Not one.
“There are over 14,000 people who have or are currently participating in FPP, and we acknowledge that one day, one of the hundreds of expectant mothers will not survive. But we will do all we can to see that it doesn't happen. We intend to stop the rain.”
A Focused Organization
Care for Life (CFL) is still a relatively small and focused organization as far as NGOs go in the developing world. We work only in the Sofala Province of central Mozambique with our full-time staff of about 60 that includes field officers, supervisors and program administrators – all Mozambican. Our mission and focus remains unchanged – to “Relieve Suffering, Promote Self-Reliance, and Instill Hope.”
A village woman stands in front of hand-made bricks made in anticipation of home improvement she will soon see.
In the last five years CFL developed and implemented a highly effective transformational development program known as the Family Preservation Program. Entire villages, usually with 200-300 families, are organized by CFL into zones and districts. In just two to three years, all are instructed, encouraged, helped and closely trained to work together to make lasting and sustainable changes in their lives that center around 8 Areas of Emphasis. We then exit each village as an organization but leave behind life-changing skills and commitments. The 8 Areas of Emphasis, each with multiple subcategories of activities, education and skill development, and measureable goals include (see circle):
Acknowledgment of Success
CFL’s approach led the Christian Science Monitor to relate in September 2007 that, “Care For Life, a US-based charity that is staffed primarily with Mozambicans, is at the forefront of what has become a new trend in foreign aid to Africa.” In November of 2010, the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy in partnership with the U.S. State Department’s Office of Public Diplomacy & Public Affairs chose Care for Life as one of the ten “Best Practices in Global Health for 2010.” This acknowledgement may have come in part from the remarkable success the Family Preservation Program has had in decreasing maternal mortality rates.
We are also grateful for and acknowledge the support we have had from many individuals and organizations. We have partnered with the Church’s Humanitarian Department in the past on water projects in CFL communities, with maternal health and childbirth education training initiatives, and have also received capacity development grants and short term missionaries from the Church who have worked with us as an organization.
Story from a Program Participant
The program’s success is best appreciated, however, from the perspective of its participants. Here is the story of Ana Dança from Nhamatanda, a community in central Mozambique about 200 kilometers inland from Beira and Manga where CFL is headquartered in Mozambique.
In this photo, Ana Dança, stands in her garden with her family holding her goal sheet from Care for Life’s Family Preservation Program. This is her story, told in her own words.
“I am 45 years old and have four children. When I was a young woman I could not believe that I would come to have my own children. I was very sick since I was five when I got intestinal tuberculosis.
Nobody believed that I would survive, but I had hope that I would. From 5 to 19 I was taken to the hospital 190 times. In that time I was attending the 6th grade and many days I used to go direct from the school to the hospital.
Unfortunately because of my health problems, my father decided that I should stop studying. Not long after that, and despite my health problems, I met the man that came to become my beloved husband. He knew that I love going to school and want me to go to school again. I returned to school, but still with many health problems.
When I was pregnant of my first son, I stopped going to school again and never returned.
“When the baby was born I need to stay at the hospital for more than 30 days.
During this time my mom took care of the baby. Even though my health problems I still have hope to keep living with that man that decided to live with me, even knowing my health condition. He learned that a specialist was in Beira, and made the arrangements for me to have a consultation with that doctor. It was that doctor that figured out that I had intestinal tuberculosis and immediately I was sent to Maputo to receive intensive care. The treatment took five years. Finally I was restored to health I return home, but in that same month my husband was transferred to Maputo, and we got separated again, and that time forever, because he passed way when he was there. He passed way in August 2008.
“In 2009, my children and I were forced to move from our house in Beira. We decided to find a place in Nhamatanda. The Secretary indicated a place where we could build our house. When we were building the house they started building a well besides my house. They told me that they were building that well as part of a “white people’s organization” called Care for Life. Immediately I remembered that was the same organization that was working with the families in Mungassa, where I used to live. Unfortunately I could not participate of the program that time because I lived on the other side of the road and were not included. During that time I learned with my neighbors that participated of the program about goals and even not being registered I started doing those things like my neighbors that participated of the program did.
“So, I was very, very happy to know that CFL was there where I was living. I said to myself: ‘I will surprise CFL’ and started doing everything that I knew they would ask me to do, before they come to my house. When Adilson, the Field Officer came to my house first time, I showed him all the goals that I was accomplishing already. He was very happy, and I was included in the program. Today I have everything that I need and do everything that CFL wants me to do. I have a latrine, a bathhouse, a tarimba, this beautiful garden, and bricks ready to start building our improved own house.
“I would like to encourage whoever reads this message to do everything, because it is for your own benefit and the benefit of your children and don’t lose time doing the things that are good for you only in exchange for rewards, but do it because of the health of your family.” – Ana Dança
Where is CFL going from here?
As we see individuals and families blessed by their own commitment to improve their lives, we are driven by a sense of obligation to more broadly share their success. In the coming years our intent is not to grow large as an organization but simply to share its successes. We have carefully documented the program content and gathered the statistical data for our use and for analysis by others. We will likely go through a period of time now where external researchers examine and publish their scrutiny of the FPP approach, to see how it stands up against other development approaches, validating its effectiveness. Beyond that, we want to find ways to share the program with other organizations world-wide. The Family Preservation Program, we believe, will prove to be adaptable, transferable, and scalable to different population sizes, cultures and nationalities. Our future lies in sharing it with other development agencies and organizations and seeing it bless more lives throughout the world.
The feet of Mozambican women – whose load is made a little lighter through the Family Preservation Program.
Joseph Smith wrote in December 1840 to members of the Quorum of the Twelve then serving in Great Britain that,
“A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.”
This quote is often linked today to humanitarian service. Indeed, in 2005 while serving with the international measles campaign, we used this exact quote in a presentation to visiting Church and American Red Cross dignitaries to emphasize commonality in mission, and why the Red Cross and the Church for so long have been able to see eye-to-eye and to work so successfully as partners on various projects dating back to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire relief efforts.
Humanitarian work and ecclesiastical work are not two separate things. When we are asked, because of our work in Mozambique as humanitarians and as Church leaders, which is most important, our answer is that we don’t see the distinction. Joseph likely didn’t see a distinction as he counseled his brethren in Great Britain to bless others because of who they represented and what they believed. If the work of Care for Life can assist in building temporal centers of strength to help the building of future spiritual strength, home by home and community by community, we simply see it as “blessing the whole human race.” It is in this spirit that Care for Life continues to exist and work as an organization.
To learn more about Care for Life, go to careforlife.org
Blair and Cindy Packard have been involved in Mozambique for the last 11 years. They founded Care for Life 10 years ago and now serve on its board of directors.
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A healthy mother, infant and other child – Care for Life is in the “orphan prevention business.”
Mothers die giving birth in Mozambique, leaving a torrent of orphans in their wake. In 2001 we started a non-profit organization known as Care for Life, mostly on a challenge to Cindy to share her midwifery skills in an area of the world with a very high infant and maternal mortality rate. Ironically, Cindy has never delivered a single infant in Mozambique, but the unique approach of Care for Life over the past ten years now contributes directly to the saving and betterment of thousands of mothers, infants, and others.
Blair and Cindy Packard, founders of Care for Life.
Board member Bradley McBride described the situation: “Every year about this time, the torrential rains descend on Mozambique, causing widespread flooding that impacts thousands of people. Many lose their homes, many lose their lives, and the survivors pick up the pieces and deal with the consequences of the flooding. Even though they know the floods are coming, no one ever looks up at the sky and tries to figure out a way to stop the rain. Why waste time on the impossible?
“In all parts of Africa, and many other parts of the world, there is a growing flood of orphaned children. UNICEF estimates that there are between 143 and 210 MILLION orphans worldwide, with over 2 million more orphaned children in Africa every year. It is truly a flood of tragic proportions. Thankfully, there are many wonderful, caring people and organizations that do everything humanly possible to care for these orphans by providing food, shelter, clothing, education, adoptions and love. It is truly a wonderful work they are doing, trying to manage the flood and its consequences.
“We at Care for Life applaud these noble efforts. However, our focus is a bit different. We are standing in the storm, looking up at the sky, trying to figure out how to turn off the rain. Simply put, we are in the orphan prevention business.
“Since its creation, Care for Life (CFL) has been working to help orphans, but also to help families stay intact to prevent the children from becoming orphans. One of CFL's earliest efforts undertaken in Mozambique was to teach expectant mothers what they need to know and do to help both themselves and their infants survive pregnancy and delivery. When a mother survives, one less raindrop enters the flood.
Villagers in the Family Preservation Program hold their completed goal sheets aloft as they participate in a “Day of Celebration” of their success.
“The focus of CFL has become the quest to preserve families. Healthy, intact families are the answer to the world's orphan crisis. Children and parents who understand sanitation, nutrition and hygiene stay healthier. Children whose parents provide income and grow gardens are fed. Children and parents who understand how to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS last longer. Children participating in the Family Preservation Program do not get pulled into the flood.
“Since the Family Preservation Program (FPP) began four years ago, over a thousand babies have been born to the mothers participating in the program. Not one of the mothers has died from complications of childbirth.
“Not one.
“There are over 14,000 people who have or are currently participating in FPP, and we acknowledge that one day, one of the hundreds of expectant mothers will not survive. But we will do all we can to see that it doesn't happen. We intend to stop the rain.”
A Focused Organization
Care for Life (CFL) is still a relatively small and focused organization as far as NGOs go in the developing world. We work only in the Sofala Province of central Mozambique with our full-time staff of about 60 that includes field officers, supervisors and program administrators – all Mozambican. Our mission and focus remains unchanged – to “Relieve Suffering, Promote Self-Reliance, and Instill Hope.”
A village woman stands in front of hand-made bricks made in anticipation of home improvement she will soon see.
In the last five years CFL developed and implemented a highly effective transformational development program known as the Family Preservation Program. Entire villages, usually with 200-300 families, are organized by CFL into zones and districts. In just two to three years, all are instructed, encouraged, helped and closely trained to work together to make lasting and sustainable changes in their lives that center around 8 Areas of Emphasis. We then exit each village as an organization but leave behind life-changing skills and commitments. The 8 Areas of Emphasis, each with multiple subcategories of activities, education and skill development, and measureable goals include (see circle):
Acknowledgment of Success
CFL’s approach led the Christian Science Monitor to relate in September 2007 that, “Care For Life, a US-based charity that is staffed primarily with Mozambicans, is at the forefront of what has become a new trend in foreign aid to Africa.” In November of 2010, the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy in partnership with the U.S. State Department’s Office of Public Diplomacy & Public Affairs chose Care for Life as one of the ten “Best Practices in Global Health for 2010.” This acknowledgement may have come in part from the remarkable success the Family Preservation Program has had in decreasing maternal mortality rates.
We are also grateful for and acknowledge the support we have had from many individuals and organizations. We have partnered with the Church’s Humanitarian Department in the past on water projects in CFL communities, with maternal health and childbirth education training initiatives, and have also received capacity development grants and short
term missionaries from the Church who have worked with us as an organization.
Story from a Program Participant
The program’s success is best appreciated, however, from the perspective of its participants. Here is the story of Ana Dança from Nhamatanda, a community in central Mozambique about 200 kilometers inland from Beira and Manga where CFL is headquartered in Mozambique.
In this photo, Ana Dança, stands in her garden with her family holding her goal sheet from Care for Life’s Family Preservation Program. This is her story, told in her own words.
“I am 45 years old and have four children. When I was a young woman I could not believe that I would come to have my own children. I was very sick since I was five when I got intestinal tuberculosis.
Nobody believed that I would survive, but I had hope that I would. From 5 to 19 I was taken to the hospital 190 times. In that time I was attending the 6th grade and many days I used to go direct from the school to the hospital.
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