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For our final Justice Brunch of the semester, we were joined by speakers from across the globe! Richard, the director of the charity Welcome Home, came to speak to us about their involvement with The Amani Family Centre alongside midwife and founder, Diane, who was calling from the centre itself in Uganda.
The Amani Family Centre exists in the Kanyogoga Slum of Kampala, Uganda to provide families and pregnant women with routine healthcare support, childbirth, emergency first aid and transport to other specialised medical units. The reason that this work is so important, Diane explained, is because currently studies show that 1 in 49 women in Uganda die due to pregnancy or childbirth complications. This number is shocking, but sadly the infant mortality statistic is even worse.
This is due to the lack of quality care available in Uganda and the fact that doctors work on the basis that they won’t treat you until you pay, even if you are bleeding to death.
Women in Uganda give birth in fear; the government medical units are known to torture and humiliate women and that’s if you even manage to get through doors of the hospital.
Pregnant women are expected to bring all their own supplies to the hospital; such as gloves, bedding, plastic sheets, sanitary pads and bleach to sterilise the equipment. All of these supplies cost a lot of money that many of them can’t afford. Yet if they don’t have the supplies, they don’t get into the hospital. Mothers are turned away and forced to deliver their babies alone, often on the sides of streets.
Amani however means peaceful in Swahili and even though Diane never planned to open a clinic, it was the story of a woman called Helen that was the lynch pin that pushed her to start it. Before Diane met Helen, she had nothing and was living in a mud house that would flood with sewer water every time it rained. When Helen went into labour, she took herself to a local government clinic, but before she even reached the midwife the security guard at the door refused her entry because she hadn’t brought any supplies.
Helen had no choice but to leave, it was late at night so she went out on the side of the road near the hospital and gave birth alone, where her baby died. Helen’s story was one of many tragic experiences that Diane has heard about.
So, she set up the clinic which has gone from strength to strength ever since; it has now expanded from one small concrete room in the slum to a whole building with 3 midwives led by Diane. Together they have helped hundreds of women throughout their pregnancy and post-natal journey.
The midwives Diane chooses to employ are picked not because of their skills but rather the heart that they have for these women. Diane stressed that pregnancy is not a sickness, you have choices, and so the midwife must form a relationship with the women that is built upon throughout their pregnancy. They don’t deliver the babies, the mothers do. They are just there to help and encourage them through the process.
The most important thing the midwives do is show the women love, which is mainly what the mothers who go to Amani come for. Not because it’s free, but because they experience peace and love throughout their pregnancy and delivery. A concept that seemed alien to many of them who had previous traumatic pregnancies and lost babies.
‘Our aim is to build an environment for each and every mother in this community to give birth in peace, in love, and give them the dignity they deserve. Just like any mother in the world’
Rebecca Naziwa, Senior Midwife
What is also so miraculous about the centre is that since opening they have delivered over 700 healthy babies and NEVER lost a mother or baby in their care. Which given the 1 in 49 statistic is astounding and clearly implies the quality of care that Diane and her midwives offer.
One key area of their work is the upkeep of an emergency fund, which can be used to send women to hospitals and pay for their care if they need specialist treatment for complications: such as a caesarean. Sending these mothers to hospital is heart-wrenching as Diane is well aware of the trauma they can face there. But by having an emergency fund she is able to refer them to hospitals she has a better relationship with, providing them with the best care possible and increasing their chances of survival.
Money is never sitting in the emergency fund as it is always needed, whether that be for an urgent hospital transfer, food to feed a young family, rent or just to maintain the upkeep of supplies and their car.
Which is why The Amani Family Centre constantly needs donations to provide for the families that have nothing. Due to the currency exchange rates sterling goes a long way in Uganda and so every pound contributes to potentially saving the life of a mother or child:
£1 will pay for a boda-boda (motorbike) to the hospital
£5 will allow a woman to receive a scan to check for complications
£10 will provide a family with a month’s supply of food
£250 will allow a woman with complications to receive emergency medical care at a trusted hospital.
What is Just Love Brum Doing in Response?
Good question….Well, Just Love Brum has chosen to support The Amani Family Centre throughout the summer with a fundraising initiative! We have planned lots of different events both in person and online – meaning you can get involved wherever you are.
Our target is to raise £1500 for the centre but really, we’d like to smash this and push for even more if we can.
Richard suggested that if we all set £1500 as our personal goal. By saying ‘we’, the collective, it takes away the ownership and responsibility we should all feel towards this goal. So, by manifesting the idea that ‘I am going to raise £1500’ we will each be held accountable and no doubt crush the target as a group!
If you have been moved or inspired by anything at all in this post, we would LOVE you to get involved….
Check out our Instagram for posts on upcoming events that you can join.
Share our fundraiser launch video (on our Instagram and Facebook) with your friends and family to spread the word.
Donate to our Just Giving Link and encourage others to do so too.
Pray for our fundraising efforts and the continued work that Diane and her team of midwives carry out – we may be fundraising to make a difference but that doesn’t stop the influx of vulnerable mothers that they see and care for every day.
We can also lift up their plans for the future to God:
Diane currently hopes for the future for a good night’s sleep where her phone doesn’t ring every hour! The clinic is fairly manageable at the moment, but Diane knows that eventually they will have to expand their staff however this is scares her as it is difficult to find midwives who aren’t in the job for the money.
Eventually Diane said she would love the clinic to have its own small theatre to provide caesareans, however that would take them into a whole new realm of care and they would have to greatly expand their staff and skill set. The theatre is a dream of hers far in the future that we can pray for.
However, much you can give, whether that’s prayer or pounds, we would love you to join us this summer in supporting The Amani Family Centre!
Richard stated that this is our faith in action; an opportunity to spend ourselves on behalf of the Gospel. We have the power to make a change: it may not alter the whole world but for these families, it could completely transform theirs.
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