LOS MINA, Santo Domingo.- Three Kings Day brought a surprise for 94 very special babies from the community of Los Mina. At least 40 young mothers from non-profit medical training organization Physicians for Peace’s “Resource Mothers” program brought their babies to the Saint Vincent de Paul private school near the Los Mina maternity hospital to receive toys, donated to Physicians for Peace by a 13-year-old American girl.

The scene at Saint Vincent de Paul was one of joyful chaos as 40 children between the ages of eight months and two years chased balloons, explored the room, and occasionally collided with each other on unsteady legs. Their mothers sat in a circle around the outside of the room, nursing the younger babies, kissing bruised knees and bumped heads and chatting with each other. Brig. Gen. Ron Sconyers, CEO of Physicians for Peace, said it’s great to see both babies and mothers doing so well.

The Resource Mothers program started in the Dominican Republic two years ago in partnership with the maternity hospital as an initiative to improve pre-natal nutrition and care among pregnant teens in five barrios. 92 women volunteered to participate in the program and delivered 94 healthy babies, most of them carried fully to term. PFP Americas Director Dr. Ramon Lopez laughed, “We had twins.”

The key, according to Lopez and Sconyers, is the Resource Mothers for whom the program is named: ten women, themselves mothers, who mentor the participants throughout their pregnancy - take them to checkups at the hospital, encourage them to quit smoking and using alcohol, and advise them on proper nutrition for themselves and the baby. Each Resource Mother has nine or ten clients under her care, and continues to visit mother and child for the first year after the birth, just to check in and share advice.

Lopez said PFP’s only requirement when recruiting Resource Mothers was that they had to be mothers; the oldest Mother is 42, the youngest, 19.

Added Sconyers, “We’re looking for certain characteristics. [The Resource Mothers] have some leadership qualities, but mostly a passion for what they do.”

Sconyers said the Resource Mothers get as much out of the program as their young clients. They receive a small stipend for their work, and uniforms that identify them as leaders in their neighbourhoods. “It really works on honing their leadership skills, honing their self-esteem. They really come together as a sort of community. We’ve seen tremendous growth in those mothers – losing weight, quitting smoking.”

One woman was so enthused about the training she received from PFP volunteers and local physicians that she enrolled in medical school. Sconyers said her decision is an example of what the PFP hopes to achieve, both in the Dominican Republic and in other developing countries. “Our whole mission is not about relief, it’s about training trainers. It’s about ‘teaching a man to fish’ as opposed to ‘giving a man a fish’ … really making a difference in the community by working in the community.”

The program will be evaluated in February, and if it’s found to be effective, PFP plans to start up similar initiatives in Haiti, Nigeria and the Philippines. “Empowering women, that’s a critical issue,” Sconyers said.

The program also addresses three health-related Millennium Goals, identified by the United Nations in 2000 as pressing issues hindering development: reducing maternal death, improving child health, and reducing the spread of infectious diseases by something as simple as training nurses to wash their hands frequently.

Sconyers is confident the program will prove its value. Currently, throughout the developing world, a woman has a 1 in 48 chance of dying in childbirth. The Los Mina maternity hospital, which births tens of thousands of babies a year, has a very high incidence of maternal death, Sconyers said. “But it’s going down, because they’re learning through the work of Physicians for Peace and other organizations.”

As for Sunday’s toy donations, they were collected by 13-year-old Alexandria Gharbo from Virginia. Her father, a volunteer doctor with PFP, brought her along on a mission trip. Sconyers said she was so moved by what she saw, she collected 136 toys for the mothers and babies of Los Mina. The most popular toy among the toddler set? Plastic telephones.