Activities
Mums for Mums engages in various activities, all aimed at achieving our objectives, in line with our vision and our mission.
Our Vision & Mission
Our vision is to see mothers and other women who are self-reliant and self-sufficient and who can look after themselves and their children.
Our mission is to be dedicated to work with the marginalized and forgotten women in our society. We aim to give hope where there is no hope. The idea is to foster self reliance and create a better and sustainable livelihood for young women living under the poverty line in as short a time as possible by offering daily assistance, skills training and career guidance. Mums for Mums strives to enable the women to be employed or self employed in a sustainable way. In this way, Mums for Mums is contributing to the poverty reduction endeavours of the Ethiopian government.
How does MUMS for MUMS work?
The objectives for MUMS for MUMS are:
-- to help women who are on the margins of society to become self-reliant
-- to build knowledge and awareness of HIV/AIDS in Mekelle and other
districts of Tigray
-- to provide a free and confidential HIV/AIDS testing service, including
counselling
-- to provide free counselling on Reproductive Health (RH) and Family
Planning (FP)
-- to help families of HIV/AIDS sufferers to provide home-based care, to
supplement the meagre public health services available
-- to increase awareness and knowledge of the nutritional benefits of
cactus, which grows freely and abundantly in Tigray
The activities carried out by Mums for Mums in pursuit of these objectives are:
-- Skills Training for Women
-- Nutrition Demonstration and Training Centre
-- HIV/AIDS Counselling
-- Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) Centre
-- Community-supported Home-Based Care (HBC)
-- Community-based Reproductive Health (RH) and Family
Planning (FP) Advice
-- Family Support Programme
-- Education Support Programme
Skills training - knitting
Skills Training for Women
back to topIt is difficult for an Ethiopian woman to get on in life unless she comes from a rich family or gets very good grades at school, to enable her to move onto further education. There are many obstacles to girls completing secondary school. Many are kept at home to do housework and look after younger siblings. In many areas, arranged marriages between young girls and older men are still practiced.
MUMS for MUMS provides skills training for young women who otherwise do not have a chance to be financially independent. Some women end up on the street, begging for a living. Some are thrown out of their homes because they became pregnant through rape, prostitution or otherwise. Others engage in commercial sex work to make a living. They can get basic financial support from MUMS for MUMS while they partake in a skills training course run by the organization. The skills training provided are in dress-making, machine knitting, embroidery and food preparation.
There are also some paying students on the courses. For some of the women, this is their first step to reintegrating with society - they become friends with people who, unlike them, have the financial means to support themselves. The idea of the skills training is not to create dependency but rather to foster self-reliance and motivation. The products of some of the skills training courses are sold on the premises, for example, scarves and jumpers knitted by trainers and trainees. Some are also revenue-generating - for example, we have fulfilled contracts to knit school jumpers for local schools.
After completing her training, a woman may apply for a loan to help set up a small business using her new skills. Loans must be paid back and come from a revolving fund that can finance future graduates of the skills training. Loans are also available to non-trainees who have a business idea.
Nutrition Demonstration and Training Centre
back to topUnder-nutrition is a major problem in Tigray. One of the strategies of the government to deal with this issue is to encourage people to utilise a plant that grows freely and abundantly in Ethiopia - cactus (known in Tigray as beles). Cactus is very nutritious and can be used in various forms to make juice and meals. Mums for Mums has done a lot of work in developing recipes for cactus. We have produced a recipe book that is simple and easy to follow.
One of the skills training courses offered now is in food preparation, with emphasis on using cactus. The trainees who have completed this course have taken the new ideas back to their homes with them. Some have had ideas to use cactus-based snacks and meals in businesses such as a hair-dresser and a kindergarten.
In recognition of this work, Mums for Mums has been invited to participate in various events promoting cactus. We have also been invited to provide the catering for large receptions in Mekelle and have been building up a good reputation for our work in this area.
HIV/AIDS Counselling
back to topSome of the earlier skills training provided by Mums for Mums for young girls was in HIV/AIDS counselling. This has since evolved to a counselling service that is staffed by girls who were trained. The service operates by systematically visiting all households in a given area. On a visit, the counsellor speaks to the household members about HIV/AIDS, gauging their existing levels of knowledge and awareness and increasing them by giving information. They revisit each household within a couple of months to check for behavioural change and increased levels of awareness. Often, the counsellors find that one or more household members have been spreading the word amongst friends and neighbours.
Awareness and behavioural change are seen as key to reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS on Ethiopian society. Mums for Mums has found this door-to-door counselling to be effective in increasing awareness and causing behavioural change amongst those at risk of contracting HIV.
A measure of the success of the counselling programme is that Mums for Mums was asked by Mekelle University to provide a part-time counselling service for female students. This activity will bring income to Mums for Mums and help to address the numerous problems experienced by female students at the university.
Staff in the VCT centre
Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) Centre
back to topThe Mums for Mums VCT was established in 2004 to complement the HIV/AIDS counselling service. It provides free HIV testing and counselling to go with the testing. The VCT is staffed by two qualified nurses, who take blood samples. The actual testing is carried out at Mekelle Hospital and results are delivered by the VCT staff at Mums for Mums.
Community-supported Home-Based Care (HBC)
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During 2004, a great need for home-based care was identified by Mums for Mums
HIV/AIDS counsellors. They found that many AIDS sufferers were bed-ridden and
were not receiving adequate care. Thus, in September 2004, a programme to
provide home-based care (HBC), supported by family members and neighbours, was
started by Mums for Mums. As of January 2005, Mums for Mums has 37 trained HBC
providers.
The providers visit AIDS patients in their homes once a week. Where there are family or neighbours willing to care for the person, they receive 5-10 days of practical training in how to care for their relative or neighbour.
The number of patients being cared for is steadily increasing, as the counsellors identify those in need and sufferers risk facing stigma in order to receive the help they need. In January 2005, there were 156 patients in Mekelle receiving HBC through Mums for Mums. In addition, 101 new HBC providers have been trained in another 5 towns in the region. Each provider visits 2 patients per day; each new home of a patient is provided with cleaning equipment and clean bed sheets - hygiene is often a problem for sufferers living in dire poverty that is commonplace in Ethiopia.
One of the objectives of this programme is to involve the community in caring for PLWHA (People Living With HIV/AIDS). To this end, Mums for Mums has set up Zonal Project Advisory Committees (PACs). These bring together community leaders to help them understand what is being done and the problems faced by AIDS sufferers. The HBC providers meet with the committees every 3 months to discuss problems and solutions to them. For example, the providers are in a position to identify children who have been orphaned and are in need of care and help from the community.
This programme is sponsored and supported by Pathfinder International in Ethiopia, Tigray HAPCO (HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office) and the Tigray Regional Health Bureau.
Community-based Reproductive Health and Family Planning Advice
back to topDuring 2004, Mums for Mums extended the counselling service to include advice on reproductive health and family planning. This includes advice on contraception and on how to avoid STDs. The advice service is for both men and women. The service includes door-to-door counselling, provision of contraceptives and referrals to local health institutions where necessary.
Family Support Programme
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The Family Support Programme is for women who have dependent children that they need to support while on skills training or while they get a small business off the ground with the help of a loam from the Mums for Mums revolving fund. This programme provides the women with extra financial support to enable them to support their children. The support is short-term, until the woman completes skills training and becomes self-reliant.
Education Support Programme
back to topThe Education Support Programme is to help young women who wish to continue their education but who do not have the funds available to finance it. For some women, this enables them to complete their high school education. For others, it enables them to go into further education, for example, to attend nursing college. This support takes the form of a loan that must be paid back by the woman after she graduates.