Documentary shares Ambassadors for Children mission trip to Morocco

By Mary Ann Wyand

Two St. Luke parishioners, Dr. Mercy Obeime and Linda Lucas of Indianapolis, recently participated in an Ambassadors for Children medical mission to Morocco to bring hope and help to the poor in this northwest African country.

As part of a 15-member coalition, they traveled to the L’Heure Joyeuse Clinic in Casablanca and the Maison de L’Enfant Dar Tifl Orphanage in Marrakech to offer medical care, school supplies, toys and love to some of Morroco’s most underserved children.

The Ambassadors for Children mission trip was videotaped for a documentary titled “The Hope Givers” by WFYI Channel 20 staff members Jim Simmons and Kaline Schounce for broadcast at 7 p.m. on Feb. 26 on the Indianapolis PBS station. Veteran broadcast journalist Diane Willis of Indianapolis is the program narrator.

It was a heartbreaking experience to see so many malnourished children, said Obeime, a family practice physician at St. Francis Hospital in Indianapolis.

“At Casablanca, we went to a clinic where mothers brought their babies who were born with a very low birth weight, and they were given food to feed their children,” Obeime said during a Feb. 21 telephone interview.

“The mothers did not get enough to eat during the pregnancy,” she said. “They did not have food that was rich in protein, and their children have protein deficiencies. When the babies are born, they are small and have very low muscle mass. The clinic tries to give them appropriate food. It was really sad. I picked up a baby who was about 4 months old, who weighed only about 5 pounds but had been delivered at term.”

Obeime said the women don’t understand why their babies are sick.

“The mother is in a hopeless situation because she doesn’t really understand what went wrong,” Obeime said. “She feels guilty, she feels she had something to do with this, even though she doesn’t quite understand what she did [wrong]. This was one of the things that touched me the most because it can be prevented.”

Malnutrition causes a number of health problems, including cognitive disorders, she said, but providing multivitamins and nutritious food for women of childbearing age can save their children’s lives.

“If we concentrate on the women who we know are pregnant early enough and give them prenatal vitamins and high-protein drinks,” she said, “their children will have a better outcome.”

At the orphanage in Marrakech, Obeime said, parents who are unable to care for their children bring them to the center for food, clothing and an education.

“Usually, they take only one child from each family,” she said. “Once every three or four months, the children go home and visit their parents for a day or two. I wish they could give the whole family food so the children could stay at home, but they cannot afford that. When this center started, there were only a few children. Now they have close to 500 children.”

One of the teachers grew up at the orphanage, she said. “Now he is helping a lot of children.”

Obeime said she hopes people who watch the WFYI documentary will be motivated to help people in need.

“Hopefully, it gives them inspiration about what they can do,” she said, “what all of us can do, to help the poor.” †