What’s up with the bench? “The bench,” explained Gail Schreiner, “is our pregnancy help center! At least, this is where and how we got started here in South Africa in the 1990’s.” Gail and her volunteers had no money for an office, so at first they met young women in their homes. The presence of children and teens made that awkward, so they started meeting on sidewalks and benches, under trees in local parks. “We used creative ways of confirming pregnancy tests—such as using public restrooms and restaurant ladies’ rooms. In some bizarre cases, ladies ducked into the bushes and presented us with urine specimens. Fortunately, these measures are no longer necessary!”

Today, Gail and her team not only operate a pregnancy help center, but run Africa Cares for Life. They currently provide training and support for 70 pregnancy help centers throughout Africa and are establishing 5 more. Heartbeat materials are adapted for use in Africa and we assist in their training conferences.