Maternal and Newborn Care Conference in Hyderabad 15 to 19 Jan 2016

After arriving in Hyderabad, we went to a restaurant in the Marigold Hotel. When we came out, there was a VERY LOUD procession for the bridegroom as he arrived at the hotel for the wedding. The groom rode in on a white horse; there was a loud organ and brass band, as well as bright lights. Everybody was dancing in the streets! It was something to see...and hear!!

Saturday morning, January 16th, the members gathered at the Hyderabad Stake Center in West Marredpally to assemble 2,000 baby kits.

It had a blanket, t-shirt, baby powder, hat, booties, gloves and a wash cloth.

The members were amazing...we had all 2,000 baby kits assembled and packed in boxes and large bags in about 3 hours.

There were baby kit bags everywhere! We had to send out for more bags to transport the kits!

Loading the truck with some of the larger transport bags...it was a team effort!

When the truck was loaded...we loaded up some kids and off to Vijay Marie Hospital--a small birthing hospital for the very poor of Hyderabad.

A Church groundskeeper's daughter had just given birth, so we took the opportunity to give our first baby kit to her.

The truck barely fit through the gate into the hospital courtyard!

The doctors, nuns and staff could not believe we were just giving them all these baby kits...with no expectation of anything in return.

We handed out about a dozen kits to new mothers.


There were smiles all around!

They pointed in a general direction and told us to put the rest of the 2,000 baby kits in a room "over there." Little did we know it was on the second floor with access only by a spiral staircase. Some bags went through windows on the second level! We suggested that we should unload the big transport bags, but the young people said, "No, no sister, we can do this!" Only in India: CAN DO!

The Sisters at the hospital were very impressed by our young people. They said, "We can't believe these young people are giving up their free time to do this." The young people offered further assistance and even gave the Sisters their phone numbers in case they needed any additional help.

As part of the Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) project, three doctors came from the US to train other doctors and medical professionals: Dr. Denton, Dr. Bell and Dr. Clark. While here, we had a Humanitarian Service fireside at the Stake Center. Sister Newton and President Berrett also spoke.

We attended some of the doctor training at KIMS Hospital.

It focused on the first "golden minute" of a baby's life.

That evening LDSC hosted a faculty training session and dinner for 40 people at the AVASA Hotel.

We hosted doctors, nurses and midwives from all over the world.

Church leaders, including the entire Hyderabad Stake Presidency, our Mission President and their wives, came to support LDSC and mingle with the doctors.