The residents of Ataampura-Sumbrung, a rural village in the upper region of Ghana, were visited by two people they had never heard of or met before, but who had given them a gift of life from half a world away.

Khosrow and Ghazaleh Semnani, business owners from Salt Lake City, joined a team of Ghana Red Cross workers to visit the village where the couple’s gift to the Ghana Mother’s Club from Semnani Corporation had made a significant impact. Here, their gift was not measured in terms of dollars, but in lives. “The elders in the village told us that out of 20 births last year, only five children survived,” said Frank Donaghue, CEO of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Red Cross chapter in Philadelphia who joined the Semnanis in the village. “But because of the Semnani donation [to the Ghana Mother’s Club], this year they had 40 births and 40 children lived and are with us today.”

The Ghana Mother’s Club is a Ghana Red Cross Society-led program to empower women through education to keep their children healthy and strong. Volunteers educate mothers about nutrition, safe delivery practices, ways to keep their babies healthy, how to notice different signs of illness, and preventative measures to avoid illness.

Semnani Corporation is funding the Mother’s Club for three years the husband and wife team was able to view their gift first-hand for the first time during the measles campaign. “This child health project has had remarkable results as you can see,” said Habiba Bihi, American Red Cross coordinator for West Africa.

Susan Sheehan, CEO of the Salt Lake City chapter of the American Red Cross was thrilled to be able to show her local community and the Semnanis how their gift has really made an impact. “The community in the village really expressed their emotion,” she said.

One mother held up her two-month-old baby for the couple to see as thanks for their gift. M-mabilla Anyoka was born October 9, the newest baby to be born in their village. Without the Mother’s Clubs, there is no way to be sure that this baby would has survived.

Sheehan added, “The elders were shaking their hands gratefully and once the mothers found out who the Semnani’s were, they screamed and danced with joy.”