| "Where it is not possible for the biological mother to breastfeed, the first alternative, if available, should be the use of human breast milk from other sources. Human milk banks should be made available in appropriate situations."
World Health Organization/United Nations Children's Fund |
|
|
August 2007 Newsletter
Dear International Breast Milk Project Family,
In June, we collected over 30,000 ounces of milk, and in July we collected over 35,000 ounces of milk. Not only is 25% of all of this milk going directly to Africa, but we are also receiving our donation from Prolacta for any milk that remains in the U.S. to help critically ill babies in Neonatal Intenisve Care Units.
For the month of June, we have received nearly $25,000 in donations from Prolacta as a direct result of your donor milk. This means that our milk donations increased nearly 50% in one month. Thank you for making a difference.
Your donations will enable International Breast Milk Project to build a desperately needed community health care facility in an impoverished rural area of Tanzania so that villagers—especially mothers and infants—receive proper medical care and nutrition. Our plan includes:
- Building a health care center to serve three local villages near Shirati , Tanzania
- Providing medications and nutrition to infants in the area
- Staffing a full-time local physician
We are partnering with a non-profit organization based in Tanzania to help facilitate the on-site construction and implementation of the project. We hope to begin construction of the health care center in the coming months.
Physicians from the U.S. recently visited the area and reported back on their visit:
“In each village, the volume of patients was so large that the group was unable to care for everyone. Many patients had never before seen a physician, and many children had received no immunizations. The supply of medications in the nearest pharmacy is limited to several bottles of Tylenol. Working from school classrooms and churches with dirt floors, physicians in make-shift clinics treated over 400 patients. The top five diagnoses were malaria, respiratory illnesses, urinary tract infections, arthritic conditions, and intestinal parasites.”
Your breast milk donations and funding will be improving the health care conditions for this area. You will be making a difference in the lives of mothers and babies without access to a physician or medical treatment. Thank you for making this possible.
On a final note, our next shipment of milk will be making the journey to Africa toward the beginning of October, courtesy of Quick International. We are inviting all of our donors to attend this landmark event. We will post the final details as they unfold. I look forward to meeting you soon.
Please remember to view our Frequently Asked Questions for more information.
Sincerely,
Jill Youse
Founder
|
