On Friday 23rd February we met this 38yr old lady in her room at the hospital. She was 36weeks pregnant, looked very unwell with gross oedema and very listless. Her husband and sister were with her when we arrived. The midwives had suggested that we visit her as she was suffering from Eclampsia with a blood pressure of 260/100 and was about to receive a dose of the Magnesium Sulphate which we had funded and sent...

... Her husband was very welcoming and smiled in appreciation as he was informed that we had provided the drug which his wife was about to receive.
We were then told that his wife was also suffering from Malaria, but that he did not have the money to provide the necessary medication to treat it! We immediately reached into our bags and with 20Euros clutched in his hand, he left the room very hurriedly to purchase the life-saving drugs. “How much more instant could that aid be?” I asked my colleagues.

On his return, we sat on the floor with him and chatted about his family. He, Gonfanezouzahbe was a teacher and the father of 5 children. The family lived in an area on the edge of Lake Chad, some 115kms away and having become very unwell, was seen by their local doctor, then taken 3hrs 45mins to get to the hospital. He and his wife had also lost three other babies, two from late miscarriages and a 5month old child from malaria. He told us that his wife would be sterilized after this child was born.

	... I asked Zouzahbe how she felt and she described an intense headache, upper abdominal pain and pointed to her grossly swollen hands and feet. I also asked whether they had ever heard of Magnesium Sulphate and Eclampsia including what caused it, to which the answers were no. I
then said that I understood from other mothers that they believed it was witches who caused it. Her husband then told us that they were Christians and believed that God had guided him to the hospital, to Grace and to us. He then told us that so far, the medications had cost almost 47,850cfas (£50) and the room cost about £5 per day. The sterilization operation will cost £50.

We told Gonfanezouzahbe that we would keep calling on them and as we left, he again told us that we had been sent by God to his family.

On Monday 26th February we called again and were told that Zouzahbe’s blood pressure had come down slightly to 180/100. She looked a little better but was still grossly oedematous.

On Wednesday 28th February whilst at the hospital, we were told by Grace that the midwives had been unable to locate heart beat of Zouzahbe’s baby and that they someone had gone to find the electronic Doppler which had brought with us on our previous visit. The new problem for her was that if she required a caesarean section, her husband could not afford the IV fluids which she would require. Into our bags went our hands again and Grace disappeared to find him, this time clutching the 20Euros in her hand. We were all very emotional at this stage and awaited news of the family in whom we had taken such an interest. We were subsequently informed that the baby had died and that she would have to endure a labour, only to give birth to a dead infant.

About 30mins later, we met Gonfanezouzahbe outside the Labour Ward. He looked very subdued and we offered him our sympathy. Despite what had happened we were humbled as he still insisted that God had sent us to them and that God would be with us for our return to the UK.