Mountains for Mamas

A note from our board member, Gillian Green, who is climbing Ama Dablam in Nepal to raise awareness and fund for our obstetric fistula repair program

I write to you from Ama Dablam base camp in the Himalayas. Base camp is a temporary home at the foot of a mountain where hopeful mountaineers acclimatize, take rest and refuge, and the point from which they make at attempt at reaching the summit of their dreams.  

Climbing to the summit of Ama Dablam, once a crazy, unattainable idea, is shifting from a dream to my imminent reality. I am humbled by my surroundings and your support. 

For this climb I am raising awareness and funds for International Medical Response, an organization for which I have been honored to serve on the board for the last several years. IMR's mission is to supplement, support and enhance healthcare systems in communities across the world that have been incapacitated by natural disaster, extreme poverty, and/or regional conflict. I encourage you to read more about our mission and programs on our site https://www.internationalmedicalresponse.org/aboutus. 

One such program is our campaign to end obstetric fistula, spearheaded by IMR's Executive Director Dr Ambereen Sleemi. Obstetric fistula is preventable and most often occurs during labor in regions with inadequate access to comprehensive maternal healthcare. Having been a young mother, I cannot fathom having my first few days and months with Penelope being in preventable physical suffering and social isolation as is often the case for these mothers. And so this program is dearest to my heart. Thus was born our campaign in 2019: Mountains for Mama's.

Ama means mother and Dablam means jewel box in Nepalese. Mothers are the jewels of this good earth and deserve the best possible healthcare to ensure they can take refuge in their bodies. The work we do is their proverbial base camp - we provide them with surgical care so they are free from suffering when they climb to meet the demands and gifts of mothering.  

If you believe in the work we do at IMR, may I ask that you spread the word and if you're in a position to do so, give any amount as all is appreciated (a link can be found below).  We are a small organization with extremely low overhead and powered mostly by volunteers so your gift goes directly to the execution of our global programs. 

For each of you, I am humbly filled with gratitude greater than these mountains that surround me. Thank you for being my proverbial base camp. 

Mostly, thank you for your support of IMR throughout the years. 

Gillian