The Eric Mintel Quartet will perform a benefit concert and jazz workshop in Lansdale, PA for the Arusha Lutheran Medical Center located in Tanzania. This fund-raising concert sponsored by Trinity Lutheran of Lansdale, PA and St. John’s Lutheran Church of Phoenixville, PA will provide much needed financial support for the new hospital. The fundraising goal is $20,000 and $17,000 has already been raised.
The concert is set for April 23, 2005 at 7:30pm tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. 100 percent of ticket sales will go to fund the construction of the new hospital. For tickets and information call 215-368-1710.
Story of Anna: Anna, a 17 year old first-time mother, was well into her third day of labor. A slim girl, Anna had made sure to eat properly during her pregnancy and her unborn baby appeared to be close to 9 pounds. As Anna labored, her overriding concern was to deliver a healthy baby. She ignored suggestions that she allow the baby’s life to be taken to save her own; the village midwife could only sit by her side in support as Anna strained to give birth. Finally, after an exhausting ordeal, Anna managed to deliver, safely, a big baby boy! Unfortunately, she also experienced a large laceration through the urethra and rectum. The midwife did the best she could to patch things up, but Anna was left with urine and feces continually draining from the openings left by the traumatic birth. This condition is known as a “fistula” and is not uncommon in Tanzania, where obstetric care is rudimentary at best. Sadly, many women never recover from injuries such as Anna’s and die from the associated psychological trauma and infection.
But there is hope in Arusha. Dr. Mark Jacobson, a Lutheran missionary and physician, founded a clinic in the small village of Selian, just outside the city of Arusha. There, he performs gynecological surgery for women like Anna. Over the course of their 20 years in Tanzania, Dr. Jacobson and his wife, Linda, have painstakingly built the trust of the surrounding community. So much trust, in fact, that Dr. Jacobson was recently named an elder of the Maasai, an unheard of honor for someone outside the tribe.
Anna had heard of the clinic and walked for 7 days to get there. Dr. Jacobson’s team was able to repair her fistulas and, after a one-month stay at the clinic, Anna was joyfully reunited with her son and welcomed back to her village.
Contact Information: Eric Mintel,
Address: PO Box 343
Wycombe, PA
Phone: 215-295-0320
Fax: 215-295-0320
www.ericmintelquartet.com
For more information contact All About Jazz.
