Fifty kilometres is a long distance for anyone to walk. Imagine doing it when you are nine months pregnant and ready to give birth.
When Huntsville resident Sharon Bennett learned that some women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo face that situation, and that the birthing centre they walk to is a mud hut with inadequate and outdated equipment, she wanted to do something to help improve those conditions.
Faith Baptist Church, where Bennett is an administrator, held a Christmas campaign with Fellowship International to raise funds for a new birthing centre and equipment for the village of Tonu, about 800 kilometres from the Congolese capital, Kinshasa.
It was during that campaign that Bennett saw a video that showed the state of the village’s current birthing centre and equipment, and learned how far some women must walk to get there. “I thought, ‘I need to do this, I need to go here,'” she says. “It was kind of shocking when I saw the video. I think it will be an eye-opener when I’m actually there.”
Maternal and infant mortality rates are high in places like the Congo. According to UNICEF, of the almost 300,000 maternal deaths worldwide each year, two-thirds of them are in sub-Saharan Africa. And infants born in sub-Saharan Africa are nine times more likely to die in their first month than a child born in a high-income country.
That’s largely due to a lack of medical support. The Tonu birthing centre is one of the few remote places where a woman can go for an assisted delivery, and it has no power and no running water.
When Bennett heard about a short-term missionary project in Tonu, she got in touch with the organizers and soon found herself part of one of two six-person teams that will be going to the village. She will be part of the first group, slated to go from May 29 to June 14, and said that this first trip to Africa “will be the trip of a lifetime.”
To raise awareness about the project, Bennett will be walking 50 kilometres on Saturday, April 6 and invites members of the community to join her for a lap or two or more. She originally planned to walk the track at Conroy Park, but with the abundance of lingering snow, she will instead walk a loop that will likely follow Town Line Road East, Forbes Hill Drive, Park Drive and Brunel Road. Bennett will start from Conroy Park at 9 a.m. and, at a pace of about 5km per hour, should be done by 7 p.m.
Bennett will also be collecting small gifts to give to children that arrive at the birthing centre with their mothers, like colouring books and blow-up balls, treats suitable for the moms, and baby supplies. She will also be bringing along hand-knit baby hats and blankets.
She’s on track to meet her fundraising goal; anyone interested in supporting the project financially can make a donation here.
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