Empower and Transform Maternal and Infant Care

On January 1, 2026, the very first morning of a brand-new year, a baby girl was born in Mafanco, a rural village in the Gabu Region of Guinea-Bissau. She was the fifth child of her parents, arriving just over two kilograms, small but strong. Her mother had faithfully attended prenatal appointments at the local Maternal Center throughout her pregnancy, and because of that care and your generosity, she delivered safely. Our regional coordinator, the nurse, was present during a site visit that same day and placed the very first Baby Bag into this mother’s hands: filled with newborn clothing, a baby towel, diapers, pads, soap, and a mosquito net. In a community where many women give birth without skilled support or clean supplies, that bag was more than a gift. It was a declaration that this mother and her daughter are seen, valued, and not alone.

Since our last report in March 2025, our program has continued to grow in both reach and depth. In The Gambia, we have now supported 59 mothers and newborns through our Baby Bag Initiative, with zero reported birth complications among those who received our care kits, a result we attribute to the combination of prenatal education, partnerships with skilled midwives, and the dignity of arriving home with everything a newborn needs. We also expanded the program into Guinea-Bissau for the first time, establishing our primary clinic partnership in Mafanco and appointing a nurse as our Regional Coordinator for the Gabu Region, the largest region in the country. We have already introduced two meaningful program innovations: adding a small mosquito net to each Baby Bag to protect newborns from malaria, and engaging a local tailor to hand-sew the bags and baby towels, creating both quality products and local employment. The Governor publicly endorsed the program by presenting a Baby Bag at a local hospital, opening the door for community and government partnerships that will help us expand sustainably.

None of this would be possible without you. Every mother who has held a Baby Bag, every newborn who has slept safely under a mosquito net, every prenatal appointment attended because a nurse took time to build trust in a community, all of it flows from your decision to give. In the months ahead, we are committed to formally launching the program across the Gabu Region, increasing the number of mothers we reach, and continuing to build the local infrastructure that will sustain this work long into the future. On behalf of the mothers of Mafanco and every family we are privileged to serve, thank you for being part of this story.

• Over 90% of babies received their first immunisations on time.
• Most mothers reported learning helpful childcare tips during their visits.
• Some fathers even joined and learned alongside them, something we hope to see more of.

• Some mothers still face risks like high blood pressure or malaria; we want to follow up with them closely.

• About 40% of deliveries still happen at home. We’re committed to changing that.
• We’re planning community talks to get more fathers involved in their babies’ early days.