Little Angels of Alfred

Little Angels of Alfred

By Lynnette Lockwood

 

In Honduras, 40% of newborn babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) die on a daily basis from preventable deaths. These deaths are caused by infections due to the lack of adequate sanitation. 56% of the babies die daily waiting for space to become available in the NICU.  The Little Angels of Honduras Club is an organization that was formed recently that strives to reduce the infant mortality rate in Honduras by assisting with the provision of optimal conditions for pregnancy, birth, and newborn care. The strategy that the organization follows has four parts: provide, support, engage, and construct. Provide is assisting with immediate needs in hospitals. Support is national education and policy change about the issue. Engage is reducing the number of high-risk teenage pregnancies. Construct involves building a new maternal and infant care hospital. The vision of this organization is to give generations of parents the gift of hope and the ability to take their babies home.

Alfred State College Little Angels of Honduras Club was started by Ashley Ebel. Ashley is a civic engagement advocate. The club is being sponsored by Kyle Jordan and Christian Perry. Christian is a graduate of Alfred State and the design team manager for the Little Angels organization. Ebel described her personal experiences and how this influenced her to start the Little Angels Club,

                   I actually met the co-founder, Christian Perry through EPLP. For blue level I had to

                   go to a few different speeches on campus and only a few of us showed up to

                   Christian's. I felt a connection because I had volunteered internationally and that is

                   how he started all of this. I also had a connection with it because both of my younger

                   sisters were born premature and it was crazy for me to think if they had been born in

                   Honduras they wouldn't be here today. I really want to make more people aware of

                   the problems and help this new organization grows so that they can continue to do

                   the work they do and expand to making a difference in another area.

 

The Little Angels of Honduras Club wants to raise money, sell t-shirts, let people know about their cause, have supply drives, and eventually have mission trips to Honduras. Supply drives would include simple things such as antibacterial gel, soap, newborn hats, gloves, baby clothes, bottles, diapers, and wipes.