Erin Wilson 
Newborns. Just a few hours old. Clean. Safe.
It’s no small miracle.
When you look at a map of the Iraqi town where these babies were born, you can see what is there. It shows the hospital in the center of town, located on the main road. It shows three mosques in the neighborhood, a gas station, two shopping centers, and two electronics stores.
What’s harder to see on a map is what’s not there. It’s not immediately obvious that if this hospital maternity ward wasn’t there, expectant mothers would have to travel hours to the nearest hospital equipped for handling emergency c-sections.
When you look on a map, the little dot that represents the hospital doesn’t tell the story of the dozens of women’s lives saved every month because they have access to the emergency surgery necessary to save their lives during high-risk deliveries. The little dot doesn’t show the trauma of emergency surgery, the fear that grips families when they know the baby they’ve waited so long to meet is in fetal distress.
The little dot on the map doesn’t tell the story of the few babies who don’t make it, despite the incredible efforts of the medical team. And it doesn’t show the care that hospital staff pours out on moms recovering from surgery and fresh grief.
The little dot on the map that marks the location of this hospital can’t tell the stories of joy! It can’t tell the stories of the relief that wash over families when they see their new babies alive and healthy.
The little dot can’t recite the choruses of first time and older moms alike—alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah… “all praise is due to God alone.”
The little dot on the map can’t illustrate the gratitude for life.
If you were to look at the dot on the map that marks the place where this hospital stands, you wouldn’t see that you’ve had a role in saving the lives of these moms and babies. You wouldn’t see your donations paying staff salaries to those who usher these beautiful new lives into the world.
Your standing with vulnerable Iraqi moms, and giving your financial resources so that they can have safe births–it’s no small miracle.
Thank you.
