This Pregnancy Center in the Congo Urgently Needs an Ultrasound Machine!

I had to write you this letter today to tell you about an emergency request I received from a Catholic hospital in the Congo. It’s a life or death situation.

You see, PRI donated an ultrasound machine to this hospital during the first year of the COVID-19 nightmare. The machine saved babies’ lives every day. But it has conked out from heavy, constant use.

You may be thinking this ultrasound machine should have lasted longer than just five years. Indeed, most ultrasound machines last 10 years or more…

… if they’re not used heavily and constantly, if they’re kept in an air-conditioned, climate-controlled room, and if the power supply is reliable.

 But that’s not the case in the Congo’s hot, humid tropical jungle.

 Now consider this. A crisis pregnancy center in America might do 20 or 25 ultrasounds a month. The Catholic hospital in the Congo was doing 20 to 25 ultrasounds a day — an average of 600 to 750 ultrasounds a month! No wonder the machine gave out after five years.

 Repairing the machine is out of the question. Parts aren’t available.

 It bears repeating that this is a life or death situation. The ultrasound machine was saving babies every day until it broke down.

Let me tell you some stories from that Catholic hospital in the Congo:

Story #1: A young woman named Joyce was a victim of sexual abuse. When her period was late, her pregnancy test came back positive. She cried a lot and wanted to have an abortion. But the hospital staff encouraged her not to have an abortion. When Joyce saw her baby on the ultrasound screen, she was very happy. The baby she’d wanted to abort is now a year old.

Story #2: Another patient (I don’t know her name) came to the hospital wanting an abortion. After her interview, she remained adamant — still determined to abort. She had a small baby in her arms and didn’t think she could handle another baby. The ultrasound picture changed her heart. Today that baby is two years old.

Story #3: Dora didn’t want to keep her pregnancy. Despite the encouragement from the hospital staff, she still refused to choose life. But when she saw her baby on the ultrasound screen, she was filled with joy and love.  She continued loving her baby, looking forward to giving birth. Now that she has given birth, she’s grateful. With pride and joy, she shows her child to everyone.

Story #4: Jocelyn wanted to abort her baby. After counseling sessions and an ultrasound, she chose life and gave birth. Whenever the hospital staff passed by, she would lift her baby and show him from afar, proud to show her healthy, growing child. 

I could give you tons of stories like this. Babies were being saved every day by this ultrasound machine, until the ultrasound machine finally broke down.

Now the hospital staff must rely on their counseling skills alone to save babies until I can replace the machine. These Congolese Catholic health workers are skilled counselors. But in difficult cases even the most effective counseling isn’t enough to save the baby: a picture of the baby in the womb is necessary to change the mother’s heart.

That’s why replacing this ultrasound machine is so crucial and urgent.

In addition, there’s an acute need to donate ultrasound machines to Catholic health care workers in Angola and Nigeria. Considering how many babies these ultrasound machines could save, I can’t say no to these dedicated Catholics. I can’t leave them in the lurch.

You’re our partner in saving babies from the slaughter

Let me thank you from the bottom of my heart for your past help in placing ultrasound machines where the baby-saving need is great. The number of babies you’ve helped us save by supporting the ultrasound project is well into the thousands and increases every day.

 You can take this to the bank: I couldn’t have placed so many baby-saving ultrasound machines in poor countries without the prayers and gifts of friends like you. You’re our partner in this glorious work. Angels rejoice whenever a baby is saved.

 Considering the crisis at hand and the urgency of the recent requests from Africa, I’m praying you’ll consider helping me send three more ultrasound machines there without delay.

These machines are expensive — about $17,500 each. They’re made in America, not in communist China. And we can’t just ship them, or they would never get to their destination.  We have to hand deliver the machines.

To buy the new ultrasound machines, take them to Africa, and keep PRI’s other baby-saving projects in Latin America and elsewhere running, I need to raise a big chunk of money. One of our donors just made an extraordinary pledge of $15,000 for the ultrasound project. We rarely receive a major gift like that, but when it arrives, I’ll still be $57,400 short of what’s needed.

To make up this amount, I’m praying that the Lord will touch the hearts of dear friends like you. Could you consider sending a sacrificial gift commensurate with your means? All gifts are welcome, such as gifts of $50 … $75 … $100 … $150 … $250 … or $500.

It would be a tremendous blessing if you could sacrifice $1,000 … $2,500 … $5,000 or more. Every single gift counts — no exceptions! No gift is too small, and no gift is too large. The more money I raise, the more ultrasound machines I’ll be in a position to send.

Your gift and prayers will help me donate three more ultrasound machines and save more babies.

I know of no organization that’s donating more ultrasound machines to Catholic health workers in poor countries than PRI. But we need to donate three more to meet the crisis at hand!

 We can’t save all the pregnant women who urgently need help, but we can save some. And that’s what Our Lord expects of us.

         Will you help again now, just as you always do? Every day we pray for our donors.