To Albertina and her husband, every child is a gift from God. So even though her seven children were almost grown, she was thrilled to discover she was pregnant again.

And when her son was born with cerebral palsy and other disabilities, she continued to celebrate his birth, even though her family lives in a poor barrio outside Guatemala City.

“He’s my baby and I love him so much,” she says, as she kisses Froilan’s cheek. A teenager now, her son is never considered a burden, even though Albertina must carry him or push him in a makeshift wheelchair.

Today, in recognition of World Autism Awareness Day, MAP International joins in support of children around the world who have autism and their families who provide special care for them.

For families living in poverty, caring for a disabled child can be difficult if not impossible. Without the necessary therapies, equipment or medicines, families are easily overwhelmed. And many developing countries provide little or no government support.

Sadly, unable to care for their disabled children, some families simply abandon them. In the Dominican Republic, some families leave their children at Casa de Luz (“House of Light”), a private facility that cares for children with a variety of disabilities.

Today is World Water Day – an international day to bring awareness of the need for clean water for all. Billions of people worldwide still live without safe water. Clean water – so abundantly available in the US – is not freely accessible in all parts of the globe. The theme of World Water Day is “Leaving No One Behind” designed to make progress against the Sustainable Development Goal 6: water for all by 2030.

Two months ago, MAP reported on the dire circumstances faced by Syrians residing in refugee camps along the Syrian border (see story below). 

This winter has been the worst anyone can remember. For many of the Syrian refugees living in Lebanon and elsewhere far from their home, it has been deadly. Snow collapsed their tents. Winds blew away their makeshift shelters. And then came the cold rain and sleet that flooded and washed away the meager goods they had left.

The weather has taken its toll on the young, old and everyone in between. Some have died from exposure and illness. Thousands continue to suffer the effects of untreated, serious illnesses.

They are in desperate need of medicine and medical supplies and our partners on the ground have come to MAP.

“We’re seeing respiratory infections and pneumonia,” said one doctor. “People are huddled together without adequate heat or nutrition for months. Those conditions take their toll. The babies are suffering some of the worst infections I’ve ever seen," said a pediatrician.

Read our blog from January 10 below - it has been a difficult winter for people who have suffered from this eight-year civil war. 

We need your help immediately to continue support for women and families who have already suffered the unimaginable.

With fewer than 50 employees around the world, how does MAP distribute the life-changing medicines and health supplies to 104 countries? The answer? Our partners.

MAP works tirelessly with 26 partners providing medicines and health supplies around the globe.

On a recent trip to El Salvador, I met with one of MAP’s long-standing partners in the field, the Salvadorian American Humanitarian Foundation (SAHF) and their sister organization, FUSAL.

Combined, our partnership with SAHF supplies more than 500 hospitals, clinics, health centers, orphanages, nursing homes, schools, and other non-government agencies throughout the country with medicines and health supplies. Together we play a critical role in medical distribution in El Salvador where MAP shipped more than $27.5 million in medicines and health supplies in 2018.

What’s amazing is that this partnership starts with supporters like you. We could not get such a large supply of medicine to people in need without your support.

While I was in El Salvador, I had the opportunity to witness the ongoing needs and successes of our partnership. SAHF  had received a large shipment of medicines and health supplies from MAP just before my arrival. Working with FUSAL, they immediately began distribution to over 500 small community clinics and large national hospitals.

One of the highlights from my visit occurred at one of El Salvador’s oldest hospitals, Rosales National built in 1902. The hospital, located in the heart of San Salvador, treats approximately one-third of El Salvador’s population of 6.4 million people. That’s nearly 1.9 million patients on an annual basis. It is the most specialized hospital in the country and treats a myriad of medical conditions from general illness to oncology.

As you can imagine, when we arrived, the emergency room and waiting areas were teeming with people. People wait hours, if not days, to see a doctor. Due to the limited beds, patients wait in the halls, and family members often sleep on the floors while their loved one receives treatment.

The hospital’s limited resources are consistently stretched thin. Basic needs often go unmet, and cleanliness is limited leading to further exposure to infection. A doctor from Rosales National visited partner’s warehouse while I was there.

 “We’re grateful for the help!”, the doctor shared with me. “These products are in such short supply at the hospital’s pharmacy.”

Can you imagine if your local hospital ran out of medicine? This is a dangerous reality at times at Rosales.

Working with our partners around the world, MAP provides medicines and supplies when healthcare providers need them most. It is a vital safety net whether in El Salvador, or any of the 104 countries where we work. Simply put, partnerships are at the core of how we achieve MAP’s mission.

Working together, we faithfully serve people in need worldwide.

The young mother drew the blanket close to shade her baby. The sun burned down on Susanna and the hundreds of others waiting patiently in line, hoping to see a doctor. Born just weeks before in rural Honduras, her baby boy was a gift from God. As her stomach throbbed in pain as she held her child, she prayed the line would move faster.

The fear on the woman’s face was easy to see. Pregnant with twins, the young woman entered the Maison de Naissance birthing center in central Haiti scared for her life and her unborn children. Her labor had stopped progressing.

Her fear was warranted.

With the highest maternal and fetal death rates in the world, women in Haiti risk their lives to have children.  It should be the happiest time in a woman’s life. But for many women living in poverty, pregnancy is a time of anxiety, illness – and even death.

The medical mission team visiting the birthing center in Jacmal, Haiti told us that the mother’s condition was critical.

“When we met Maria, she was not progressing, said Linda Johnson who helped coordinate medical supplies for the mission. “We were told that three weeks before our arrival, a woman pregnant with twins had gone to a different facility too late into labor. All three died - the mother and two babies.

“…Love each other as I have loved you.” - John 15:12

In a week that is full of hearts and candy, we want you to remember something much more important: God loves you.

The love of God is greater than any other circumstances in your life. It is a perfect love that doesn’t depend on how you act or feel. God will always love you.

It is God’s love that motivates us at MAP to reach out to others. We know that the love we show others is just a small reflection of the love shown us.

So often we hear from people who have felt forgotten, alone, without hope—until they received the gift of healing through medicine. They tell us that this is a true sign of God’s love.

Angelina, a pregnant mother of three, lives with her children in a slum near a large garbage dump in Guatemala City.

Her life isn’t easy. Toxic fumes and burning garbage threaten her family’s health and gangs threaten their safety. But in the middle of this horrific setting, Angelina and her family find hope at a clinic filled with medicines provided by MAP International.

Angelina’s youngest daughter, Charon, is just five years old and is already suffering from respiratory issues from
the burning trash at the dump. This family has no other option; this is their home. Living without hope was unbearable, but then they found the Heart of Love clinic. 

Heart of Love clinic, started by nurse Lelah and her husband pastor Saul (pictured right), provides Angelina and her children with medicines for their respiratory issues as well as vitamins free of charge.

This Sunday, January 27, is World Leprosy Day, a day to raise awareness of a disease that many people believe to be eradicated from the planet.

The global elimination of leprosy was officially announced in 2000. However, approximately 210,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, and some believe millions more are living undiagnosed.

For over 60 years, on the last Sunday of January, people around the world have observed World Leprosy Day by remembering and praying for those living with the terrible effects of the disease.

Leprosy is a chronic, infectious disease that develops slowly, with an average incubation period of five years. It is caused by a bacterium, Mycobacterium leprae, and chiefly affects the skin, peripheral nerves, mucous membranes of the respiratory tract, and eyes. It is curable. But, when left untreated they can cause severe deformities and have life-threatening consequences.