“I need to go there.  I need to do that.”
A commercial was all it took for the Santa Clarita resident.
“The mortality and morbidity rate for babies born in Africa is astounding,” stated Maureen.  “The amount of babies and mothers that die is horrific.” A labor and delivery nurse at UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica, Maureen started raising funds to help fund her trip to Africa.
“My plan was to travel with a missionary couple, Paula and Dennis Lofstrom, a husband/wife, nurse/doctor team who wanted to start a birthing center with International Health Partners Tanzania,” stated Maureen.  Unfortunately, the birthing center wasn’t completed at the time of the trip, but that didn’t put a halt to the nurse’s desire to help.
“I had raised the money.  I wanted to go.”
Maureen quickly jumped on board with Lutheran World Relief, an organization geared toward helping the world end poverty, injustice and human suffering.
In February 2010, Maureen made her home in Kenya for two weeks along with a team of doctors and nurses from Lutheran World Relief, led by Scarlet Holcombe.
It was during this medical trip where Maureen met Irene, a Kenya local who had been in labor for three days.  “I couldn’t believe it,” stated Maureen.  “Irene was in labor for three days, her water had been broken for two days, and she was actively pushing for a day…something so unheard of.”
Maureen examined Irene and immediately knew that she needed a caesarean section.  “She was not going to have this baby naturally,” stated Maureen.  The medical team pitched in funds to get Irene to the hospital where, the local doctor decided against a caesarean at first, but that changed as the evening progressed.  “If Irene hadn’t come to the clinic, she and her baby would’ve died.”  Out of gratification the new mother decided to name her son “Maury”.
It was obvious that one medical mission trip wasn’t proving to be enough for the labor and delivery nurse.  Later that year, Maureen went on her second trip abroad, this time to Madagascar, and this time with Medical Missions Team. “Madagascar is a strange, fascinating and beautiful place.”
Since Madagascar, Maureen returned to Kenya twice, one  time in January of 2011 and the other in October 2012, with her husband Joe.  “I had met my husband after my second medical mission trip.  I told him, if we were ever going to get married, he was going to have to go with me!” And he did.
“I was attracted to Maureen’s outward beauty, but I believed there was something about her that was much more important…a good heart,” stated Joe.  “I knew this was somebody I wanted to get to know.  I was right, and now she is Mrs. Wright!”
Over the last three years, Maureen has taken four trips to Africa, volunteering her time to tend to the wounds and illnesses of those in need, some of which walked miles and miles just to seek treatment. Today, Maureen and Irene maintain a close relationship as Maureen continues to help Irene by sponsoring her schooling to learn how to be a seamstress, a trade Irene can depend upon to build a sustainable life for her family.
“Living in our country, we have an embarrassment of riches, and we have no idea how blessed we are,” stated Maureen.  “You hear about the poverty and see it on TV and in movies, but until you go to Africa, you have no idea what it’s really like.  When you realize how much suffering there is in the world, you want to help… Some people in my life said I shouldn’t try to raise the money to go, and a few told me that God would provide. God did indeed provide, and then some.  I am truly blessed.”
For more information about how you can help, or to learn more about Int’l Health Partners Tanzania visit www.ihptz.org , Medical Mission Teams at http://medicalmissionsteams.org.    For more photos from Maureen’s last Kenya trip, visit http://jbwfoto.blogspot.com.

photos by JWPhoto