“Every day 1400 girls and women die giving birth and 99 percent of them are in developing countries” UNICEF, 2003.
“More than 1 million babies die on the day of their birth every year” Save the Children, 2014.
How many can we save? One? Two? A hundred? A thousand?
As years come and pass the population in developing countries is growing and more and more women, girls and new borns are dying. If we don’t react probably the same number will continue dying each and every day. Some women and girls lack transportation to reach the health center and others just don’t have the means to pay for hospital services.
We all commit to save the life of a women, a girl, a child but how do we do this? I see smiling kids all along the road on my way home and say to myself, those are future leaders of this country. How many of these can we save? Everywhere I go I see a mother carrying her child with love and tenderness. How many of these smiling faces can we save? “When i grow up i want to be the president of the republic.” How many of these wishes can we help to make them happen? How many cries of child can we stop if we don’t care?
Today, a friend looked at me and told me: What is happening with your smiling face? I said “I am happy.” How many smiles can we draw on kids’ faces? “I can’t believe he is fourteen years old now” or “I can’t believe my baby can walk now”. How many of these stories of excitement do we want to hear? Every time I walk into this building I say to myself, maybe I will be seeing more smiling faces of women while their babies are being treated with love and dignity. But again what is my role in this?
These are all the questions that run into my head every time I am looking at these women carrying their babies, when I walk through the new NICU being built, and when I pass next to the pediatrics ward going down facing the mortuary. I am always thinking, how many can we save? Working in between the maternity, the pediatrics and the mortuary wasn’t the easiest thing to do while working on the construction of a new NICU ( Neonatal Intensive Care Unity).
I always ask myself if what I am doing is the right thing, if I am contributing in saving lives?
My name is Marie Amelie and I believe that architecture is all about changing people’s lives!
It is all about seeing kids growing,
It is all about healthy smiles,
It is all about a safe home,
It is all about a Happy Birthday!
It is all about this!