Male and Female He Created Them ...

Nepal has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Each year, 54 out of every 10,000 pregnant women in the country die in childbirth or from complications stemming from birth. Pregnant women fair better in Bangeladesh, Papau New Guinea, Ghana, and even Haiti. Grim standings, to be sure.

Roughly translated, that's 6,000 women each year whose lives are cut short just as they are entering what is to be one of the most beautiful seasons of life for a woman: motherhood. Instead of memorizing their newborn's pursed bow lips, or counting tiny fingers and toes, these women suffer through undeliverable breech labors, contract septic infections, or bleed to death on the dirt floor of an outdoor cow shed.


While much of the blame can be laid upon the country's dismal economic situation, a look into the Hindu-dominated practices surrounding birth gives more insight into why having babies is such dangerous business in Nepal. In villages, elders and religious leaders often control who has access to health care. Trained birth attendants are a rarity, since the role is seen as one of low-caste standing. Because the birth process is thought to potentially bring bad luck upon men and livestock, it takes place in the shed normally reserved for housing cattle.  (See this photo montage for more.)

This is not the safest way to have a baby.


Sadly, the direness of women's issues in Nepal extends beyond their birth experiences. The simple biological act of menstruation sets them up for exclusion and derision thanks to an ancient myth:

In Far-Western and Mid-Western Nepal, families isolate women from the home during menstruation and also immediately after childbirth. Advocate Poonam Chand says this is because various religious books have deemed menstruation and pregnancy to be sins, and chaupadi [ritual seclusion] is the punishment. (GPI: click here for full story)

Women are hidden away, ostracized, and neglected during their monthly cycle thanks to a Hindu belief. Condemned to a freezing hut for seven days, many women grow ill or even die each year from exposure.






Reading these facts make the smiles of the girls at Abba House that much more precious. Safe from enslavement to myriad Hindu gods, unfettered by the oppression of superstition and fear, these girls are being raised with the joy and freedom of Christianity. They are learning that they, too, are fearfully and wonderfully made in God's own image. They are told daily that children are a gift, that they are as entitled to the gift of salvation as any man or boy, and that the Lord who set the stars in the sky cares about their needs, large and small.


Quite a different perspective, isn't it?

Gold Rush!

Cascade Community Church in Monroe, WA, raised $2,385 for Abba House! Way to go, kids! The children of Abba House will be getting new tennis shoes, and a failing electrical inverter can now be replaced. A massive thank you to the children at Cascade and their families!

Scenes from Abba House

This short video features some of the sights of life in Nepal as well as the beautiful children of Abba House. Cascade Community Church's VBS in Monroe, WA, is currently raising funds to purchase shoes for the Abba House children. Their goal is $1,500!

Dal Bhat

There seem to be as many recipes for dal baht as there are people who make it. That being said, this staple is served at Abba House Children's Home at least daily.

Plain Rice (Bhat) 2 cups rice (Basmati or Long grain preferred) 4 cups (1 lt) water 1 tsp butter (optional) Lentils (Dal) 1½ cups lentil (any kind) 4 to 5 cups of water (depends preference of your consistency of liquid) ½ tsp turmeric 1 tsp garlic, minced 6 tbsp clarified butter (ghee) 3/4 cup sliced onions 2 chillies (dried red chilies preferred) (depends on your preference) Salt to taste OPTIONAL ¼ tsp (pinch) asafetida ¼ tsp (pinch) jimbu 1 tbsp fresh ginger paste

Rice: 1 Wash rice and soak for 5 minutes. 2 Wash rice and soak for 5 minutes. 3 Boil the rice over medium heat for about 10 -15 minutes. Stir once thoroughly. Add butter to make rice give it taste as well as make it soft and fluffy. 4 Turn the heat to low and cook, covered, for 5 more minutes until done   Lentils: 5 Wash lentils and soak lentil for 10 minutes. 6 Remove anything that float on the surface after it and drain extra water. 7 Add drained lentils in fresh water and bring to a boil again. Add all spices. 8 Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 to 30 minutes until lentils are soft and the consistency is similar to that of porridge. 9 In a small pan heat the remaining of butter and fry the onions, chilies and garlic. 10 Stir into the lentils few minutes before you stop boiling. Serve with rice. (Source: food-nepal.com)

Jamie Oliver would be proud

Nepal has enacted a ban on cell phone usage by students in its state-run schools, as well requiring parents to supply homemade meals for their children rather than offering packaged convenience foods. For details, read here.


An excerpt:

As per the new decision junk foods such as readymade noodles and snacks are not allowed into the school for health reason, according to officials.

DoE has reasoned that uncontrolled use of cell phones in schools has affected students'' performance and consumption of junk food can adversely affect children''s health.

In a country where food shortages cripple nearly a tenth of the population, this move can either be seen as genius foresight on behalf of the government, or burdensome to parents struggling to put any food at all into their children's bellies.

Water

Lack of access to clean water kills tens of thousands of people in Nepal each year. In 2008 alone, 10,500 children under the age of five died from water-borne diseases.