The moment Melissa met Mercy for the first time
Mercy for Mamas began in 2010 as a small personal project for Melissa Busby and her family. Melissa and her husband, Cody, were in the midst of adopting their youngest daughter Mercy from Uganda. Mercy became an orphan after her mother died during childbirth in a remote village. When Melissa heard her story she decided she needed to do some research and find out how often this happened. She was shocked as she learned about the maternal health crisis in Uganda. Her heart broke to hear of so many women dying in situations that often could have been prevented. After reading about the number of women who did not get medical care because they could not afford the supplies, Melissa decided she needed to do something. The Busbys asked friends and family to donate a little bit of money so they could buy mama kits and distribute them in honor of Mercy’s mother. Melissa was able to buy 100 kits and deliver them to some crisis pregnancy centers. During the next 10 months while living in Uganda completing the adoption, Melissa heard story after story of the desperate conditions so many pregnant women in Uganda were facing. God began to give her a deep love and passion to help these women. As Melissa shared the need with others, people continue to give. Melissa ended up passing out 700 mama kits that year!
Distributing the first mama kits to Wakisa Pregnancy Center
After completing Mercy’s adoption and returning to the US, Melissa decided the work needed to continue, and Mercy for Mamas officially became an organization. Since that time, Mercy for Mamas has been able to expand our operations. We now have ministry partners working all over Uganda. We have distributed 30,000+ mama kits to women in need. We continue to expand our prenatal education programs. We love being able to help women to have safe childbirth and we also love pointing these women to Jesus and the eternal hope they can have in Him.
The Busbys will probably never know what could have prevented Mercy’s mothers death, but they want to do whatever they can to keep it from happening to other women.
Cody, Melissa and their four daughters live in Hingham, Massachusetts.
The Busby Family