International Awareness and Involvement

Dr. Mary Knight, Co-Chair

Ambassador Pat Alsup, Co-Chair

Hon. Njeri Maldonado, Co-Chair

internationalawareness@atlantaalumnaedst.org

Not only do the members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. work diligently in our local cities, we also reach across the seas as well. Realizing a critical health issue, in 1955, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority began making plans and laying the groundwork to establish a maternity hospital in the East African country of Kenya. The plans for a facility came to fruition in the early 1960s when Delta made a major donation to help finance the construction of the Thika Maternity Hospital in Thika, Kenya, which is now named Mary Help of the Sick Mission Hospital.

The first hospital to open after Kenya gained its independence, Mary Help of the Sick Mission Hospital continues to be operated by the missionary sisters of the Holy Rosary. In 1985 members of the Sorority visited the hospital and saw firsthand the increased population and infant mortality rate in and around Thika. Delta responded by donating over $20,000 in 1985 which was used to establish two additional maternity wards and an administrative office. Mary Help of the Sick Mission Hospital has grown to 120 beds.

It provides affordable prenatal and postnatal care, nutritional education, child immunization, and family planning. The hospital gives prenatal care, including lab work, blood tests, and examinations to more than 200 women daily. The facility also has a special care nursery for babies after delivery. The hospital also serves as an educational institution for nurses and midwives. Over 66 students are trained each year for Books For Africa. A simple name for an organization with a simple mission. We collect, sort, ship, and distribute books to students of all ages in Africa.

Our goal: to end the book famine in Africa. Books For Africa remains the largest shipper of donated text and library books to the African continent, shipping over 31 million books to 49 different countries since 1988. Over the past 12 months, we have shipped 2.6 million books, valued at $35 million to 27 African countries, with an additional 223 computers and 11 brand new law and human rights libraries. It costs about $10,300 to send a 40-foot sea container of books, computers, and school supplies to most major African seaports. Your donation will enable Books For Africa to send even more books to children in Africa who are hungry to read, hungry to learn.

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