Community Area No. 11: Medical

Welcome to the 11th blog in our series, “The 12 Areas of Community Transformation.” Over the course of this year we are answering the question, “How is HopeChest different from other leading child sponsorship organizations?”  Today’s blog is about the 11th of these 12 areas of primary community transformation.

Medical Support

As a result of the of The Fall, everything changed.  Not only was the ground cursed and “by the sweat of our brow” do we now labor to eat our bread, but there was also the introduction of pain and suffering resulting from that Fall.

In 1940 C.S. Lewis wrote his book, “The Problem of Pain,” in which he stated, “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world… Pain is unmasked, unmistakable evil; every man knows that something is wrong when he is being hurt.”

God’s “megaphone” is still crying out to us and rousing us to say that all is not normal.  Since human beings fell and were driven out of the garden, we live in this fallen world. Pain actually helps us to know and to understand that something is wrong, that it was never God’s intention that we should experience pain, nor that He desires that we should suffer.

How Does HopeChest Fit In?

Gratefully, as we grasp a Biblical Worldview, this begins to help us understand not only the problem of pain, but also to begin to understand how we can respond to this broken world with the heart and hands of God.  In some of the cultures where we work, there is an Animistic approach, which teaches people to believe that sickness is only the result of a curse from a witchdoctor. Medicine is a sector of society that brings a Christian approach to pain and a healing to what is broken.

Children who attend HopeChest CarePoints have access to basic medical care, which includes regular physicals to screen for larger health issues and medication for those who are HIV positive. In some cases, when a medical tragedy occurs, CarePoints can use funds which are set aside for such emergencies to cover a portion of the medical costs. Around the globe, HopeChest has helped to support the costs of life-saving care for children in situations such as snake bites, cancer, motor accidents, burns, broken bones, surprise diagnoses, and more.

How This Creates Sustainability

We find that communities either spiral downward with the weight and impact of The Fall or they overcome these factors and begin to spiral upwards as the effects of Godly solutions propel their trajectory in a positive direction.

We work to combine a number of sectors of society so that the symbiosis of the various sectors can strengthen the whole.  For example, we work with our partners to improve the components of clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) as well as giving attention to dietary and other health and medical aspects so that they all work together to bring improvement.

Once children have access to better medical attention, they begin to have improved attendance in school and the education level of these children increases, supporting them to find better employment and increase their wages, allowing them to build a better life and contribute to improving their communities.  All of this can now begin to raise the standard of living and increase their ability to sustain themselves and find solutions for increased sustainability in their communities.

Stories of Hope

Lidia's Story | Moldova

Lidia* was born into a vulnerable family within a small village in Moldova. In many ways she raised herself, as her father was an alcoholic and her mother was disabled. Her father had abused her since she was a child, and when her mother found out about the abuse, she helped Lidia run away. Lidia was 14 years old.
Soon she found a job cleaning in a hotel, where she worked and lived for almost two years, but to work all day, she had to abandon going to school - even though she loved studying. One evening when Lidia was walking with her friends, they were kidnapped and taken abroad to beg in the streets and earn money for the men who kidnapped them. She was trafficked for nearly two years until the man who was holding her hostage brought her back to Moldova to be a servant for his mother. While with his mother, Lidia met some missionaries who searched for a place for Lidia to receive the resources needed to escape her situation.
When she first visited Beginning of Life (BOL), Lidia was closed off and scared. But as time went by, she began to trust the BOL staff.
Physically, Lidia had serious problems due to the violence she had faced since childhood. In addition to the sustained injuries, it was also found that she had a brain tumor. Her mother was aware of the tumor, which Lidia had since childhood, but their family did not have the money to address the health issue. BOL arranged for Lidia to have surgery to remove the tumor, which was a success! Lidia’s dream is to continue healing, finish school, and pursue higher education for a better future here in Moldova.

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*Names in Stories of Hope changed to protect children’s identities

Conclusion

When children receive life-saving medical care, we see some of the starkest examples of lives turning from despair to dignity. Children’s HopeChest is grateful for the opportunity to partner with you to restore health to these individuals, families and communities.

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This blog is part of our educational series that answers the question, “How are you different from other leading child sponsorship organizations?” Over the course of the year we are going in depth about how your support impacts entire communities in 12 unique areas of transformation. If you don’t want to miss one of the blogs in our “The 12 Areas of Community Transformation” series, subscribe to our blog, HopeChest Insights, here!