선교사 마렌 보딩(Maren Bording)의 공주․대전 지역 유아(乳兒)복지와 우유급식소 사업

Abstract

Maren Bording, who is woman missionary, was sent to Gongju in Korea by Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of The Methodist Episcopal Church in 1923. Arriving at Gongju, She began to do medical work with Dr. Norman Found who had performed medical missionary therein. During her medical missionary, she witnessed Korean babies who could not survive daily life for the lack of food. She launched infant welfare project in earnest in 1924 just one year after she came in Korea. So she opened baby clinic center at a small room in the hospital. She mainly took care of children's disease and health and kept round visiting care. But there are many children who died of malnutrition and serious disease which could not be controlled by her. She figured out new work, milk station project, to protect children's health from malnutrition. She reported, “I found that if children from 1 year to 3 year have one or two bottle of milk a day they can live well without serious disease. so finally my project may be successful.” Under this situation Milk Station opened formally in the first time at korea in 1926. The performance of Milk Station and children's welfare project in Gongju was great. By the 1927 report just 2 or 3 years after the project began, the children's death rate of Gongju was very little 5 % compared with 35 % total in korea. This project which could be good model at that time extended to seoul, Jemulpo, Pyongyang and Haeju and was kept going well variously. Girls could learn hygienics by the project and Post-graduate course of public hygienics nursing was established early in 1927. Also there are other new character projects like prenatal clinic and prenatal and midwifery care. Prenatal clinic and childbirth, care of health after delivery and care of baby, supply of milk, kindergarten, and furthermore education of manpower and so forth worked successfully with good system. The Gongju project was carried out in Daejun similarly according to the movement of the seat of a provincial main office from Gongju to Daejun in 1932. Maren Boarding wanted baby welfare center to be called ‘Baby Life Saving Stations’ so that it may help and influence on the local community for the better health and family. There is no National boundary of love for the baby's life. She practiced christ's love by herself by caring children who were korean or japanese abandoned from society in Daejun and Gongju under the circumstance of National darkness and frustration.