In April 2025, Muji visited Catholic Maternity Hospital in Ogoja, Nigeria, to distribute prenatal vitamins to their pregnant and postpartum patients. While there, she was introduced to a young woman who had tragically lost her baby during childbirth. To her shock, Muji discovered that because the mother was unable to pay her bill, she had been detained in the hospital for over a month. Because her family members were also impoverished and lacked the funds to assist, our foundation paid her N650,000 bill (which was equivalent to about $400) and she was quickly released.

After Muji returned to the US, she continued to think of that woman's situation and knew that there would be others like her; postpartum mothers detained at the hospital indefinitely, sometimes for months with their newborn, until someone pays for their release. Since the income of the average working adult in Ogoja is N20,000 ($13) per month, mothers with high delivery bills, usually due to a cesarean section, are most often unable to pay.

To help these mothers and their newborns, we have launched the St. Gerard Release Fund to assist women in Catholic Maternity Hospital's maternity ward who are unable to pay their bills. These bills average $160 - $400, which means that it would require at least a years' wage for them to pay it off.

Patient detainment is a common and accepted practice in Nigeria and many other impoverished countries throughout the world. The majority of their hospitals receive no government funding and are completely reliant on the income from patients paying their bills in order to remain operational. Since Catholic Maternity Hospital is the only hospital in Ogoja (and for many additional miles) its closure would be tragic for the community that depends on their services. Financial assistance for these detained patients typically comes from local, campaigning politicians or philanthropists who periodically visit the hospital with the intention of offering financial assistance to its detained patients, but such visits are few and far between.

No person should ever be in this situation, yet alone during the fragile period of recovery from childbirth. Unfortunately, many are, so this fund exists to offer assistance to some of them. Partner with us to help release these women and their newborns back into their homes by making a tax-deductible donation. St. Gerard, Patron Saint of expectant mothers, pray for us.

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During a visit to Divine Providence Home in 2023, our Founding Director, Muji Kaiser, sat behind a mother and child during mass at the home's chapel. The chapel is open and often frequented by the area's faithful. The child was very small, and his ribs were prominent - a heartbreaking sight. Muji came upon many other malnourished babies while visiting Catholic Maternity Hospital. Images of these children stayed in her mind upon returning to the US, and thus, the Food and Formula Program was established in November 2023.

The Food and Formula Program provides nutritional assistance to malnourished children in areas surrounding Divine Providence Home. We identify babies who are underfed due to extreme poverty and provide their mothers with monthly provisions of formula and baby food. These mothers are unable to maintain an adequate milk supply because they themselves are malnourished.

In collaboration with Catholic Maternity Hospital, we also conduct periodic weight checks to monitor the babies' growth and cover the cost of medical care, if intervention is needed. It has been incredible witnessing the children's improvement and weight gain after receiving supplementation. This is all made possible by the generosity of our donors. We pray that by God's grace and increased support, we will be able to provide nourishment to more hungry children.