Shanti Uganda (and a Mother's Day giveaway!)

Today I am pleased to introduce you to The Shanti Uganda Society, a registered Canadian charity and Ugandan non-profit organization dedicated to the support and empowerment of birthing mothers and women living with HIV/AIDS.



Our Mission:
The Shanti Uganda Society
improves infant and maternal health,
provides safe women-centered care,
and supports the well-being of birthing mothers and women living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

Programs

Currently, Shanti Uganda's programs fall under three categories:

Conscious Birth - Shanti Uganda's goal is to lower maternal and infant mortality rates, reduce HIV/AIDS transmission rates from mother to child, improve access to education and supplies, and honour every birthing woman. Projects include midwifery education, birth kits, and the Shanti Uganda Birth House & Learning Center.

Holistic Health - Shanti Uganda offers Teen Girls Workshops, where young girls are empowered to become more aware of and confident in their bodies. Each girl taking part in the workshop receives health education, a safe place to ask questions, a workbook, and a washable menstrual pad kit which allows them to attend school and do other activities while menstruating. The Shanti Uganda Society also supports locally initiated projects that improve the nutritional health of communities on an ongoing basis, including chicken coops, community gardens, and a Safe Drinking Water Initiative.

Sustainable Community Development - Shanti Uganda's Income Generating Training Program provides training, supplies and support to women who are HIV positive and either a grandmother taking care of multiple grandchildren, a widow, or a women in a situation of extreme poverty. Once graduated, the women become members of the Shanti Uganda Women's Income Generating Group, producing either beaded jewellery or textile products. Shanti Uganda also offers a scholarship project to provide young adults with additional education in the form of skills training or tuition.

Values

Shanti Uganda's core values are kept at the forefront of their program development. In their words, these values include:

Community Participation: All projects are locally initiated and supported with a deep sense of solidarity and ownership. Work on the ground is supported through the time, passion and employment of the local communities we work with.

Unity: We support and embrace everyone within the global family and believe in the power of unity to change the world. Moving towards a vision of ‘we’ allows us to act and serve from a place of love and compassion.

Sustainability: Our projects reflect our deep respect for the earth and all those who live here. Each project is able to sustain itself over time and provide long-lasting benefits for generations to come.

Traditional Values and Knowledge: We believe in the sacred power of traditional healing, wisdom, culture and community. All projects are rooted in cultural sensitivity and reflect the knowledge of the given community.

How You Can Help

Celebrate your mother this Mother's Day by supporting the well-being of birthing mamas in Uganda!

Donate

A general donation will allow Shanti Uganda to make the best use of your funds by contributing to the project elements most in need. Become a birth partner through a regular monthly donation, helping Shanti Uganda to provide consistent levels of support and care with the least amount of administration costs. Honour your friends and family by buying them a program-specific Gift of Action. Donate supplies, host a home party, spread the word via Facebook, or volunteer at home or in Uganda.

Shop

Part of Shanti Uganda's involvement in Uganda includes working with a group of HIV+ women in a women's income generating group to provide livelihoods and income opportunities. The Women's Income Generating Group produces beautiful beaded necklaces, bracelets, and earrings made from recycled paper, as well as a variety of bags made from traditional East African fabrics. Shanti Uganda also sells 100% organic cotton t-shirts ethically made in Canada.

Shop Shanti Uganda's Mother's Day sale and receive 40% off your entire purchase! Enter the code springcleaning at checkout. But hurry - this code expires May 15th!

Giveaway!

Shanti Uganda is generously offering to give away one of their beautiful bags to a lucky reader. These bags are made from traditional East African fabrics and are lined with batting to make a beautiful, colourful and sturdy bag that is perfect as a diaper bag, laptop bag, shopping bag and more. Each bag is made by their collective of amazing women who are actively creating their own destiny through financial independence.

(Colours may differ from product photo.)

To enter, simply leave a comment below (one entry per person)! Giveaway open to residents of Canada and the United States.


Comments will be closed on Sunday, May 13th at 11:59pm PST. The winner will be chosen via Random Number Generator and announced Monday morning. Good luck!

Comments closed! Winner to be announced in a separate entry Monday morning.