Our partnership with Mercy in Action

Our grant to Mercy In Action funded the construction of 5 maternity waiting homes outside one of their birthing centers in the Philippines. These Cubos, as they’re called, house expectant women and their families in the weeks before and after birth. By building housing next to their birth center, Mercy in Action can provide care for women that would otherwise stay home and dangerously deliver without help due to the difficulty of travel.

Mercy In Action’s birthing centers are open to all women in the community, but they provide an especially invaluable service to the women of the Aeta tribe who travel up to three hours in order to be near a skilled birth attendant. These Cubos are now also a place for them to recuperate and learn more about proper nutrition and breast feeding. It’s not an overstatement to say that these Cubos will save the lives of both mothers and babies.