Emily Carlson
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Blog posts
Born Too Soon:
World Prematurity Day
Every year on November 17, we celebrate World Prematurity Day. It’s a day set aside to reflect on the importance of specialized care for infants who are born early and their mothers, who often need extra support. Around the world, babies who are born early face much greater health risks than babies carried to term. But they’re no less loved and they’re just as important to care for. At Medical Teams, we join hands with organizations around the world to advocate and increase awareness for babies born prematurely.
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Read on to learn more about the premature babies we’ve cared for, and find out how you can help!
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Caring for Premature Infants
A beautiful, tender moment. A reason to celebrate — the moment a newborn enters the world. For a baby born premature, it can also be a terrifying moment.
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Some of Medical Teams’ most important and rewarding work is meeting expectant mothers and walking with them through their journey of pregnancy, birth and newborn care. Every day, we work to provide loving and life-saving medical care to mothers and babies.
In many of the communities where we work, the health of mothers and babies is a major public health issue. Throughout rural areas in Uganda and Tanzania, premature babies are especially at risk due to the absence of equipment such as incubators and radiant warmers. According to the World Health Organization, prematurity is one of the leading causes of death for children under the age of five.
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Timeline: 45 Years of Love in Action
This year, Medical Teams celebrates our 45th anniversary! Since 1979 — the year our founder, Ron Post, went to Thailand to care for Cambodian refugees — we’ve provided loving, life-saving care for people facing crisis around the world. Together, with compassionate people like you, we’ve held countless hands, comforted innumerable families, and saved millions of lives. See key moments from our legacy of healing in the timeline below!
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Over the last 45 years, we’ve stayed true to Our Calling: Daring to love like Jesus, we boldly break barriers to health and restore wholeness to a hurting world.
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It’s a reminder and an obligation that has helped guide how we save lives and leave communities healthier. Read on to see how we’ve healed in the last 45 years, and join us as we look forward to many more years of caring together!
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1979 – 1984
November 1979 — Seeing the cruelty of the Cambodian Killing Fields on the evening news, Salem businessman Ron Post looked at his own daughter and thought, “What if we lived in Cambodia? Would anyone care about us?” Within two weeks, he mobilized the first volunteer medical team to Thailand to care for displaced and dying Cambodian refugees. Northwest Medical Teams had begun.
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Saving His Child's Life –
One Ethiopian Man's Story
Seven months ago, life for 40-year-old Burhani felt peaceful and safe. Living in Humera, Ethiopia, Burhani owned a small retail store and the business was prosperous. The conditions in the city were stable and his store was bringing in enough income to provide for his wife and one-year-old son. But then war broke out.
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In the first week of November 2020, the situation escalated dramatically. Armed conflict erupted in Ethiopia, between federal and provincial forces in the northern region where Burhani’s hometown is located. Burhani explained,
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“We woke up on the morning of the seventh November to the sounds of cannons and gunfire everywhere.”
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He described the horrors he witnessed. Dead bodies piled in the streets. Burhani was forced to escape Humera. With his wife and son, he fled his house and left the city quickly.
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“We didn’t have time to take anything with us, except for the clothes we were wearing.”
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Burhani lost his store, his source of income, his home and all of their family assets. The outbreak of war left him and his family with nothing. They began the long journey to reach safety.
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No other option: Morjan's Story
This story was collected in Bangladesh by interpreter and photographer Nihab Rahman.
August 25th, 2019 marks the two-year anniversary of the Rohingya refugee influx into Bangladesh. Throughout this month we are reflecting on the tenacity of Rohingya refugees. We commemorate their courage in fleeing violence and persecution in Myanmar. Since Medical Teams began operating in Kutupalong Refugee Camp in 2017, we have heard countless stories of people who endured unimaginable hardships – stories like Morjan’s.
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A Narrow Escape
Morjan escaped to Bangladesh with ten family members. Her family desperately wanted to stay in their home in Myanmar, but when the military descended on their village, shooting at people and burning everything in sight, they had to leave.
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“We had no choice – they left us no options. They were chopping necks. They were raping women. We had to leave.”
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They ran. With at least a thousand other village members they fled to a heavily-forested hill nearby. They were hoping to hide until the horrors stopped. Morjan’s heart sank when she realized they had been caught. The militia screamed at them to get down or they would be killed. “Then they rushed toward us and started shooting. Many were killed that day. Some of us were lucky enough to escape.”
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