U.S. Ambassador To Liberia Visits ‘Look to Jesus’ Medical Clinic

On May 12, Ambassador Michael McCarthy visited the Look to Jesus Medical & Laboratory Clinic in the 72nd Community of Monrovia.  The owner of the clinic, Ms. Helen M. Bongay, received a grant from the Ambassador’s Special Self-Help Fund last year.  The grant helped expand and improve the clinic’s obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) ward, which benefits an estimated 2,500 people in the surrounding community.

The Special Self-Help Fund gives the Ambassador the opportunity to respond directly to requests from communities for small-scale, community-based development projects that promise to have an immediate impact.  “The Look to Jesus Clinic is the perfect example of the type of business or organization who should receive a Self-Help grant,” Ambassador McCarthy remarked during his visit.  “The funds were responsibly used, the impact on the community is obvious, and the work Ms. Bongay and her staff are doing as a result is, frankly, inspirational.”

Ms. Bongay, who is also a nurse, used her Self-Help grant of US$9,000 along with US$11,000 of her own contribution to retile the clinic, install windows, renovate a bathroom, and purchase an ultrasound machine, mattresses, and beds.  She employees two doctors and two nurses, who see patients daily as well as deliver an estimated 35 babies a month.

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