October Mission Moment

Life Changing Care

Eleven-year-old Ratna Mannan was studying at home when the accident happened that would change her life.

As she worked by candlelight, her linen dress caught fire and nearly 90 percent of her body sustained burns.

Her father was a day laborer and the family did not have much money for medical treatment. Ratna was taken to a nearby hospital where she was treated for several months.

As she grew over the years, though, her scars became tight, and her movement became constricted. She underwent operations over the years at a number of hospitals to alleviate her suffering.

Then finally, at the age of 21, she was admitted to Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh, a hospital that specializes in maternal and children’s health funded in part by the generous gifts ELCA members make to ELCA ministries through their Sunday offerings.

Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh is a program designed to not only meet the immediate health-care needs of women like Ratna, but to sustainably improve the health and living conditions for women and children in the southern part of the country through education and development.

The program includes medical outreach to women who may not otherwise receive health care. It has a mobile clinic that visits rural areas of the country five days a week and soon will begin conducting training seminars aimed to teach especially women not just about personal health care, but about how to build a better future for themselves through working for human rights, gender equality and sustainable income generation.

“Bangladesh is a country where poverty particularly affects women and children, increasing risks to their health and wellbeing. I am grateful for ELCA members paying attention to this reality by allowing us to support Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh,” says Franklin Ishida, who coordinates the ELCA’s involvement in Bangladesh. “In accompaniment with Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh, the ELCA is indeed reaching out to provide for safe and appropriate health care for women and children.”

For people like Ratna, who has now had four surgeries to relieve the constriction caused by her scarring as well as reconstructive operations, Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh is the gateway to a better, healthier life. Ratna will remain at the hospital until her treatments are completed. Her procedures and meals will be paid for until she is ready to return home.

This story would not be possible without your generous gifts. Thank you! You are making a difference in this world- you are changing lives. God’s work. Our hands.

We cannot be quiet about what we have seen and heard! Acts 4:20

Christine Donahue
TLGCS Mission Interpreter Coordinator

cedonahue@gmail.com