(Finishing off the water catchment tank which will be supplying running water to the birth house)

Nic has now installed a bio-sand filter at New Hope School which will filter this terrible dirty water so that the children can drink from this water source and not end up with disease)

(Nic and Leslie, one of our february volunteers working on the detail work for a bench)

(Seane, the founder of Off The Mat at a welcoming ceremony with the Shanti Uganda Women’s Group)

(Each woman who came with Off The Mat raised $20,000 towards this years Seva Challenge)

(Sorting through some of the donations from the Off The Mat Seva Participants)

(Suzanne, founder of Off The Mat leading a mural she designed to brighten up New Hope School)

(The women’s new bikes lined up and waiting at a shanti meeting. After receiving a donation from Greenscape Capital in Vancouver, each of the 28 women in our group received a bike this year)

GLORIA LATHAM
Founder of Semperviva Yoga and Director of Yoga Teacher Training
www.semperviva.com

“I am inspired by this organization as it honours the traditional wisdom of its communities and strives to improve health conditions and employment opportunities. I also appreciate getting to know the people involved and honouring their dedication to this great work.”

Gloria Latham is the founder of Semperviva Yoga, and Director of Semperviva Yoga Teacher Training College. She is known for her dynamic classes that inspire her students to both find their inner strength, and their inner peace. You can study with Gloria both in Vancouver, and on the island of Kythira, Greece.

Gloria has been inspired by the work of her fellow yoginis and friends, Gurmukh, Shiva Rea, and Seane Corn, to work through her yoga community to reach out and give back.

“As yogis, it is our responsibility to spread the peace that we have achieved through our yoga practice.”

Fundraisers at Semperviva Yoga have supported many local organizations and charities; including RainCity (RainCity Housing provides innovative, specialized housing and support services for people living with mental illness, addictions and other challenges), as well as international organizations such as War Child (dedicated to providing urgently needed humanitarian assistance to war-affected children around the world)

By Jeanne Faulkner

2.25.10: Another opportunity to help a sister out

Indulge me, will you? I feel like I’ve been in labor myself lately. I’m working on a fundraising project and it’s been a tougher job than I anticipated, primarily because everyone has already given generously to Haiti. And yet, the opportunities to help a sister out are endless and Haiti is but one of the many places in the world where women aren’t safe giving birth. This is another Labor of Love.

My fundraiser is for the Shanti Uganda Birth Center. I found out about this great organization from Sean Corne, the internationally celebrated yoga teacher and activist. You might know about her. She’s been blogging for Oprah.com lately about traveling to Uganda with a group of women as part of a Seva (yoga-talk for “service”) project sponsored by her foundation Off The Mat Into the World. These women have met Sean’s challenge to raise $20,000 through community involvement (no short cuts allowed – they can’t just write a check). Their prize? Two weeks of working with some of the most impoverished and underserved people in the world. One of the recipients of her foundation’s generosity is the Shanti Uganda Birth Center.

This birth center is being built from the ground up to provide prenatal care, birth services, post partum care, breastfeeding assistance, HIV/AIDS services and ongoing training for midwives and traditional birth attendants. Like the health clinics I blogged about last year in Peru, this birth center is virtually the only health care available for miles around. Currently, most Ugandan women deliver at home with traditional birth attendants (some trained, some inexperienced) and many die, as do their babies.

I read an article in the New York Times today about how some poorly trained or inexperienced traditional birth attendants lack the basic skills to help a newborn take his first breath or keep him warm enough to survive the first crucial hours of life. They mistake a baby who doesn’t cry right away (and lots of them don’t) as one that’s already dead. If they just knew that rubbing the baby’s back with a towel would stimulate it to breathe, the baby would live. They don’t know that drying baby off and placing it on Mom’s chest means it will not get dangerously cold. Seriously, this is basic stuff but it means the difference between life and death.

The Shanti Uganda Birth Center will be staffed by Ugandan midwives with top-of-the-line training. Part of their job will be to provide ongoing training and supplies to traditional birth attendants. They’ll be paid $300 per month each. That’s above-scale wages in Uganda. These midwives will care for the women and babies in their community and invest their wages back into their local economy. It’s a sustainable solution.

I volunteered to be their Midwife Sponsorship Coordinator and drum up the money to pay these four midwives for a year. That adds up to $14,400; not such a big sum. How am I going to meet this financial goal? I’ve sent out letters requesting donations to lots of American doctors and midwives asking them to “put a midwife on their payroll.” Additionally, this weekend, I’m throwing a Baby Shower for Uganda. Instead of bringing diapers and Onesies, I’m asking guests to bring their checkbooks and toss a donation in the jar. It’s a collaborative effort and I’m touched by how many soft-hearted sweeties are helping me put this fundraising shindig together. Want to join us? Log on to Shanti Uganda “Sponsor a Midwife” and kick in what you can.

I’ve been asked a dozen times lately, “So many people here in the US need help. Why should we help women on the other side of the world?” My answer: “Because we can.” I’ll add the wisdom of a 3-year old to this. When asked, “what do you like better, Cake or pie?” he answered, “Cake and pie.” “How about puppies or kitties?” He answered, “Puppies and kitties.” His point? Why choose either/or when you could have both? There’s no need to choose between helping women at home or in the global community. There’s plenty of poverty to go around. Choose both. Donate your time and money to local and global charities. There’s enough for everybody.

Jeanne Faulkner, R.N., lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and five children. Got a question for Jeanne? E-mail it to labornurse@fitpregnancy.com and it may be answered in a future blog post.

This Fit Pregnancy blog is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to replace medical advice from your physician. Before initiating any exercise program, diet or treatment provided by Fit Pregnancy, you should seek medical advice from your primary caregiver.

(Nic discussing components of our solar power system at a meeting in Kampala)

(The foundation of building number 2 – this is where women will be birthing their babies)

(Adding the earthen interior walls to building 1)

(making benches from earth inside the common area)

(Medi, right, leads his building team on the front entrance wall)

(Natalie, executive director, stands in the middle of building 2 which includes 2 birth rooms, a bathroom and a sterilization room)

Community meetings in Uganda are fascinating – no matter how many people have different opinions, somehow they are always able to solve disagreements and come up with solutions. It is inspiring to watch as everyone shares their own ideas. I’ve held many community meetings here in Uganda over the years and was blown away with the amount of participation the women in this community had. It was lead by Julius, our project coordinator and the two local village chairmen. They introduced the traditional birth attendant, discussed the needs of the community and most importantly made decisions on how they would get involved.

For a while, there was great discussion that seemed to almost get heated about participation. Part of our criteria as an organization is to make sure that any project we support is rooted deeply in community participation – we do not start anything with the time, effort and support of the community in any way they can. This time the problem was not that they didn’t want to help, but that they wanted to help SO much we needed to come up with a plan!

In the end the 3 villages decided they would all contribute a few hours of work twice a month during the build and then once the birth house is up come once a month to help weed, work in the garden, repair the buildings, cook and clean.

The women clapped when we told them there would have an emergency transfer vehicle to take women with complications from our birth house to the hospital in town. They told us stories of walking long distances into town while in the birth process only to receive poor care at overcrowded hospitals in Kasana.

We connected with the local traditional birth attendant and have a meeting scheduled with her this Thursday to see how we can work together. I wasn’t surprised when I found out she was the local TBA as she had the most to say about mothers, birth and babies during the meeting.

(Julius, Shanti Uganda project coordinator addresses the members of the surrounding villages at a meeting on our land)

(Members of the surrounding villages walk through the birth house for the first time to share ideas)

(Natalie, executive director and Marva, shanti uganda volunteer set up a meeting with a local traditional birth attendant)

The rest of the afternoon was spent in song and dance with the women and then all of our volunteers learned how to roll paper beads. I always enjoy the look of determination on the faces of those who attempt to roll their first bead and the awe they have for our women who manage to turn paper into beautiful jewellery!

The day ended with Charlene doing a yoga class with our women’s group. They had a fabulous time and really enjoyed moving about and stretching and laughing together in circle.

Its been a few weeks now since Marva and Nic arrived to work on the birth house protocol and solar/water system and I am amazed at how much they have brought to the project in such a short period of time!

Each volunteer that comes to Shanti, whether in Vancouver or here in Uganda brings a gift that collectively changes lives, enables smiles and builds community.

(Charlene, a day volunteer on a tour of the local village)

(Ron, a day volunteer with Adam, founder of the Earth Rising Foundation standing on top of our pit latrine, discuss our building design)

(Members of the Shanti Uganda Income Generating Group welcome Charlene, Ron, Nic and Marva)

(Charlene learns to roll her first paper bead)

(Yvonne, leader of our beading group, helps Nic roll his first paper bead)

(Marva gets a bit of help from Jesca)

(Ending a long day with yoga – The women loved Charlene’s yoga class!)

We planted a mango tree in honour of the birth of the birth house, watered it and began the ceremony with three prayers: a catholic prayer by Sister Teddy, the head midwife at Bishop Asili Clinic, a blessing of the land by Natalie Angell, Shanti Uganda’s executive director and a muslim prayer by Hadija, a woman in the Shanti Uganda Income Generating Group.

(The Shanti Uganda Women’s Income Generating Group and Birth House builders at our ground breaking ceremony)

(Natalie Angell, Executive Director adds earth to our mango tree to mark the beginning of the birth house)

(The local LC1, or village chairman waters the plant in honour of the birth house while members of the income generating group watch)

This month we are featuring the work and support of David Newman & MIRA.

We were thrilled when MIRA contacted us to let us know about an event they are already organizing and find out how to get a supply of jewellery in time! Chant, Chai and Charity, is an event held once a month at a yoga studio in Philadelphia called Jai Yoga. There’s chanting, chai, and a little talk about the “charity of the month”. On January 21st David and MIRA will be talking about Shanti Uganda and their new roles as ambassadors.

Check out their website and the good work they are doing in our world!

DAVID NEWMAN & MIRA
Kirtan Troubadours
www.davidnewmanmusic.com
www.sacredcymbals.com

“It brings us great joy to be a part of the Shanti Uganda family. Their commitment to sharing the benefits of Yoga with communities in need is in alignment with our dharma of offering Kirtan, which brings people together in song, celebration, and prayer! We also feel deeply passionate about the importance of supporting women in natural, traditional ways of childbirth and are grateful for the Shanti Uganda projects, which empower women in this way.”

David Newman and Mira have devoted their lives to the upliftment of humanity through Love. They travel extensively singing Kirtan (devotional chanting) and sharing the spiritual, devotional, meditative and musical aspects of yoga. Their music embodies a devotional mysticism, distinctive musicality, and a deep respect for India’s ancient chant tradition. David’s sublime melodies and soothing voice combined with Mira’s ethereal vocals and rhythmic percussion create an atmosphere for healing, joy, and openness of heart.

(Our neighbour’s grandchildren)

(Kyle, one of our building volunteers helps make 28 christmas cards for the women in our income generating group. Each card let the woman know she was receiving a bike for christmas)

Many of the women live quite far and either have to walk long distances or pay to ride on the back of a bike to get to work or to come for Shanti Uganda meetings. We wanted to find a way to give the women more independence and also make it possible for them to make their way to the birth house once complete. Currently our women’s group is working out of Bishop Asili, but have requested their own space and secure place to store our sewing machines and supplies. Once the birth house is complete, they will all be working from there and will now have new bikes to make their way to work!

We began by trying to find 28 bikes, which apparently is quite the task in Kasana. We went to the town-crier (aka the men you pay to make announcements who ride through town on the back of a pick up with a microphone and music) Shortly after this attempt, we realized that the best way to do this was to make cards for each woman and have her find her own bike that we would then buy.

Last week a volunteer and I stayed up making these 28 Christmas cards letting each woman know that she was receiving a bike for Christmas this year. The power was out, so we hand made each card by candlelight.

Last night, the women gathered all together for the first time since I arrived. It takes quite a bit of effort to coordinate getting them all in the same place at the same time as many of them travel far to come. They brought their children, came dressed up and we shared in our typical arrival celebration. We went around with updates – everyone had something to share.

The women were all given their cards and let out cries of joy when they realized what was written inside. (we also drew a photo of a bike for the women who aren’t able to read) They were clapping, yelling, singing and jumping.

There were questions of course – how would they learn to ride if they didn’t know how? When we explained that we would have bike-riding lessons, they laughed.

Kiguli got a very serious look on her face and started ranting off in luganda about how despite her age she would learn how to ride a bike. Seeing the determination in her eyes was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.