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Our success as
an organization is possible because of the partnerships that we have
been privileged to develop. Our
first and foremost partnership has been with supporters and donors, who
have generously contributed to our work.
Ninety-two percent of contributions go directly to project
development and support.
We
have been privileged to partner with corporate and private foundations,
businesses, governmental agencies, educational institutions, and faith-
and community-based organizations. In addition, we collaborate with
talented and committed Africans, who care deeply about the plight of
their continent. While we work with religious-affiliated groups, MLI’s
aims are purely humanitarian.
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MLI
is a member of The African Family Life Federation (AFLF) that has been
organized to coordinate and promote natural family planning, breast
feeding, and youth HIV prevention programs.
MLI will continue to support AFLF’s work in making these kinds
of programs available throughout Africa. Moreover, we presented our
“Circles of Life” model to the 2nd AFLF Congress in
2004.
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In
Cameroon, we support and work with the Family Life Office of the Diocese
of Kumbo, which is successfully implementing the “Circles of Life”
program in its rural dioceses.
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In
Malawi, we formed a partnership with FASU Consultancy, the arm of the
Jesuit Trustees in Malawi, to develop our FAMLI program, which is
teaching AIDS prevention and fertility awareness and addressing cultural
issues that lead to the spread of AIDS. FAMLI collaborates with
Malawi’s ministries of Gender, Youth and Community Service, the
National Youth Council, and with the National AIDS Commission. FAMLI is
recognized by the following United Nations organizations: UNAID, UNFPA
and UNICEF. It also is a member of their Sexual Reproductive Health NOG
Committee and of the Technical Working Group on Young People. FAMLI is
in partnership with some 15 Malawi mainline and independent churches. In
early 2004, FAMLI added two additional partners, receiving grants from
the Medical Services Corporation International of Arlington, Virginia
through a United Stated Aid for International Development (USAID)
program and from Catholic Relief Services of Baltimore, Maryland.
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In
Nigeria in 2003, we worked both with the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria
and with the Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) of New York to train
more than 300 nurses and health care providers in our “Safe
Passages” program to stem the tide of maternal deaths and to provide
safe-birth training to representatives of some 280 health care
institutions. Our Nigerian
partnership also produces a “Safe
Passages Bulletin” for ongoing training and support to improve both
emergency obstetrical care and HIV care.
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In
South Africa, we are working with St. Mary’s Hospital, Marianhill,
near Durban, and with CMMB to provide Safe Passages training for South
Africa doctors and midwives. Also at
St. Mary’s, this group is working to develop a Parish Nurse Training
Center of Excellence for the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Parish
Nurses (see Swaziland below) and their assistants work with priests and
ministers, delivering care and medications to the sick in their homes.
This type of care has multiple benefits to patients and their families,
combining the practical and the spiritual dimensions of health care.
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In
2001 in Swaziland, we teamed with the Catholic Diocese of Swaziland and
the Bristol Meyers-Squibb Company’s “Secure The Future Foundation”
to develop and implement the first ever parish nurse program in Africa.
Today, while we continue to provide technical training and
medication support, our Swaziland staff has demonstrated Africans’
capacity to design and manage their own parish nurse program,
which is mostly funded internally and which has now expanded to include
nurses from seven other Christian denominations.
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Maternal
Life Uganda, an MLI affiliate, is responsible for teaching the Circles
of Life program to couples and communities throughout the country.
Maternal Life Uganda partners with the Ugandan Catholic Secretariat and
with the Ugandan Catholic Charismatic Renewal to provide additional
support for those committed to our Circles of Life behavior change
program.
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