Great Expectations:
An update from Save the Mothers
Fall 2007

Dear Save the Mothers Advocate,
Thank you for your ongoing interest in Save the Mothers (STM) and its vision to bring hope to Uganda’s needy mothers. The program continued to attract attention this past summer in Canada with the STM team working hard to tell more of the plight of Uganda’s mothers, 6,000 of whom perish every year during something as natural as childbirth.

Uganda MP visits
The highlight was hosting STM student Sylvia Ssinabulya, a Ugandan MP from the district of Mityana, who joined me in a number of Ontario centers, including Ottawa. There she met Canadian MPs, Senators and statesmen including former Prime Minister Joe Clark. MP Ssinabulya also spoke to the Society of Obstetricians of Canada about the importance of mobilizing political will in women’s and children’s health in Uganda.

Recently this energetic Ugandan MP was able to get maternal health on Uganda’s budget for the first time ever, a result of a bill she introduced last fall that called on government to boost safe motherhood. MP Ssinabulya has also mobilized 37 other Ugandan MPs to form the Ugandan Women Parliamentarian Association, which is focusing its energy on helping Ugandan mothers.

While in Canada, she also spoke in Toronto, London, Hamilton and Oakville. She was overwhelmingly received, and audiences were challenged to learn about the disparities between women’s health in Canada and Uganda. Media, including the CTV in Ottawa, London radio, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, and the Ottawa Citizen, carried stories. Sun Media papers across Canada also carried a column about Sylvia and STM.

Back in Uganda, Sylvia, who graduates from STM in the fall of 2008, has also brought three other MPs in the STM program. This passionate woman is one example of the power of just one STM student. Thank you for supporting students like her, and supporting our vision to utilize their passion for Africa’s mothers.

Western Canada
Prior to Sylvia’s Canadian arrival, I also spoke across Western Canada including in British Columbia at UBC’s Centre for International Health and at the Women and Children’s Hospital. Influential professionals in the medical community showed keen support and organized multiple meetings with interested individuals.

In Calgary, STM was presented at the University of Calgary Children’s Hospital and at the High River Rotary Club, Joe Clark’s home riding, plus at the Bow Valley Club. Other presentations followed in Winnipeg and Kelowna.

It’s always interesting to see audiences reflect on Canada’s own system, to see how far maternal care has come, and be reminded how needy it is elsewhere. In this sense, the Western tour exceeded expectations. Many attended, and created a synergy of like-minded people.

At UBC, for example, the Centre for International Health gave a premier showing of a documentary on safe motherhood, called “Edibbu,” or “The Gap,” the Lugandan word referring to the gap left when a mother dies. One of STM’s own students in Uganda – journalist Catherine Kizza -- narrated this UBC documentary.

Nobody who watched at UBC will ever forget one striking scene of a Ugandan mother delivering on the floor, because there were no more beds, directly behind a doctor speaking on camera. The doctor interrupted her interview, then borrowed gloves from another patient (delivering mothers need to supply their own gloves), to help. The viewers couldn’t believe it.

The season ended with speaking engagements for me at the University of Toronto, McMaster University, the University of Western Ontario, the Hamilton Rotary Club and various women’s groups.

Back in Uganda
As of Oct. 1, I’m back in Uganda for another eight months. On October 5th, the first stream of STM students will graduate. Meanwhile, the incoming class of new students is also preparing. There are 25, from 132 applicants, representing a good societal mix: politicians, teachers, community activists, journalists, and leaders from faith-based and other organizations, all ready to build a new societal network.

Also underway is construction of the Dr. Florence Mirembe Hall, a new building for STM’s use at our host university, the Ugandan Christian University (UCU). To be finished by the fall of 2008, this hall will give great flexibility.

STM plans to use its strategic location at UCU in Uganda as an international training centre, and is already strategizing how to best expand training for future STM students who would come to Uganda for training, from broader East Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.

Thanks to You
STM international is thankful for our successes in Ontario and Western Canada, particularly with MP Ssinabulya’s visit. And we’re thankful for STM’s successes on the ground in Uganda. We look forward to continuing this momentum.

Thank you so much again for your ongoing advocacy for this great global need among the developing world's mothers. Here are a few ways to help. Please contact manager@savethemothers.org for more information about any of these options.

1. Share multiple copies of the book “Where Have All the Mothers Gone?” It’s always available as a helpful tool, an easy and practical way to share the story.
   
2. Give an STM presentation. To accomplish this, please ask for a kit with a DVD and Powerpoint presentation, that will soon be available. It will allow you to tell the story of STM to interested individuals and groups, creating more awareness.
   
3. Support STM financially. The particular need is for monthly donors who can help to support a student at $25, $50 or $100 a month.

Thank you again,

Jean

Dr. Jean Chamberlain
Executive Director
Save the Mothers
director@savethemothers.org