After a donation of medical equipment from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Estación González Catán area of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the hospital director said the facility will now be well equipped to provide care to a community that needs it.
“We are achieving things we never imagined we could do,” Dr. Mariana Migliorisi said.
The donation on Saturday, March 29, included delivery beds, fetal monitors, advanced incubators and an ultrasound machine — all of which will improve care in neonatal, obstetrics and childbirth at Equiza Hospital. An average of 80 babies are born at the hospital each month, according to a news release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
This also follows recent blood donation campaigns organized in the area in collaboration with the Church.
“We are extremely grateful for the recent blood donation and eagerly look forward to the next event,” Migliorisi said.
The Church has organized dozens of similar donations of needed medical supplies to facilities around the world in recent months.
Following is a sampling of recent donations.
Cambodia
The Church has donated a new heart center for the Siem Reap Referral Hospital in the city of Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia.
This is the Church’s largest humanitarian project to date in Cambodia, according to a news release from the Church’s Cambodia Newsroom.
Elder Benjamin M.Z. Tai, General Authority Seventy and president of the Church’s Asia Area, spoke during a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 13. He said the donation was made possible through small charitable contributions made by ordinary Church members throughout the world.
“Our members will be happy to know that their contributions are going to such a great cause that will make life better for our friends here in Cambodia,” he said.
Elder Tai also told local dignitaries, physicians and hospital staff that the project is close to his heart.
“We believe we show we love God by loving and serving our neighbors,” he said.
When construction is complete, the main feature of the heart center will be a state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization laboratory, the first in the country outside of the capital city Phnom Penh. The Church is donating all the technology and specialized equipment needed for the laboratory.
Dr. Chen Narong is one of the cardiologists being trained to treat patients at the lab.
“This project will save many lives,” Narong said. “It will transform heart care in our region.”
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Church officially handed over a fully constructed building to the Higher Institute of Medical Technology in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Thursday, March 6.
The building includes two floors, auditoriums, air-conditioned offices, and other space for medical care and teaching, according to a news release on the Church’s Africa Newsroom. The Church financed the work, and Vodacom Foundation equipped the digital room, along with chairs, tables and computers.
Director general of the institute, Professor Joséphine Ntumba, thanked the Church for the donation.
“This act of generosity reflects God’s love; this new building is a step forward toward becoming a major research school,” she said.
Patricia Katshiabala, president of the Vodacom Foundation, also praised the partnership with the Church, noting that 75% of the students at the institute are women.
“Therefore, during this Women’s Month, we want to remind everyone that when a woman gains access to knowledge, an entire community rises up,” she said.
South Korea
The Church is supporting year-round nutritional support for children at the Ihwa Infant Home in Naju-si, in the Jeollanam-do province.
Forty infants — from newborn to 7 years old — are cared for at the home, according to a news release on the Church’s Korean Newsroom website.
This recent donation, celebrated with a signing ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 13, follows years of similar support for the children’s home. Donations from the Church have also gone to installing safety fences, installing stairs, building electric vehicle charging stations and supporting children’s health and living necessities.
Director Ki Se-soon said many children arrive at the home in poor nutritional condition.
“I would also be grateful if The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would pray for the healthy growth and bright future of the children at Iwha Infant Home.”
Guam
The Church is collaborating with the Salvation Army in supporting an addiction recovery center for women at the Salvation Army’s campus in Tiyan.
The Lighthouse Recovery Center was opened on Friday, Feb. 14, according to a release from the Church’s Guam Newsroom.
The administrative services director for the Salvation Army, Lourdes Hongyee, and her team worked for five years to prepare the center.
It will serve as a shelter for “women in need of a safe, nurturing place to reclaim their lives, guided by compassionate professionals who will walk alongside them every step of the way,” she said.
Dominican Republic
The Church donated 759 canes to the National Trust for the Blind in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
The donation will help hundreds of people with visual impairments gain autonomy and independence, according to a news release from the Church’s Spanish-language Newsroom.
Ricardo A. Smart, second counselor in the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Central Stake presidency, remarked at a presentation ceremony how the donation represents the Church’s commitment to helping God’s children live with dignity.
“This event is a special occasion that honors us by allowing us to be His hands in this service,” said President Smart, highlighting the importance of providing support to those who need it most.
El Salvador
Members of the Church from the Ahuachapán El Salvador El Espino Stake donated their time and blood during a blood drive on Sunday, March 23.
The blood will go to helping patients at the San Francisco Menéndez National Hospital.
The hospital’s mobile blood center was able to come directly to a Church meetinghouse, so Latter-day Saints could donate blood after their Sunday meetings, according to Stake President Roque Arturo Zaldaña Olivares.
“We are happy,” he said. “It is another way of following Christ’s model of loving, serving and helping our neighbors by donating our blood.”
Forty-two units of blood were collected with the blood drive, according to a news release from the Church’s Spanish-language Newsroom.
Doner Enrique Gonzáles said: “I have been donating blood for several years now. It is very gratifying to carry out this type of action. It allows us to save lives and help those people who may need it at the time, even if I don’t know them.”
