PAST PROJECTS

Uganda Martyr’s Highschool, Kiboga, Uganda
From January to February 2007, Shanti Uganda lived and worked with the children and teachers at Uganda Martyr’s Highschool in Kiboga. The majority of our funding money for the 2007 year went towards textbooks and school supplies for the students and teachers, paying for an internet connection, building an addition to the school, providing several students with tuition and accommodation for the school year and making plans to bring a water source to the school. We were also able to bring African history textbooks for the teachers to use in their lesson plans. In additional to teaching the students at the highschool, we introduced goal setting, frisbee and counselling. Many of the children we worked with were either orphans, or neglected and in need of a way to release years of tension and stress. We taught yoga classes out on the playing field, introduced breath awareness and relaxation techniques and taught the children new ways to discover their bodies and witness their emotions.

Soft Power Education, Bujagali, Uganda
Soft Power is a fabulous organization with projects throughout the Bujagali District. Through the support of volunteers and tourists, they build, maintain and support local schools in the region. In addition to the many schools they support, they have built a beautiful education centre at Bujagali Falls and are in the process of opening an additional centre at Murchison Falls. In 2007, we were able to visit many of the Soft Power schools and guide hundreds of children through outdoor yoga sessions. We also led a peace flag workshop for local teachers and taught them how to paint flags with peace messages with the students.

Agape Health Clinic + Kiboga Hospital, Kiboga, Uganda
In 2007, Shanti Uganda worked with the directors, nurses and local midwives at the Agape Clinic in Kiboga, Uganda. Agape was created and named in honour of the director’s daughter who had recently passed away. Here, we were able to donate birthing supplies generously given to us by Mama Goddess Birth Shop. We held training sessions for the clinic staff on birth and were able to educate specifically on the importance of pelvic floor exercises, nutrition and natural pain coping strategies during labour. Our work at Agape made evident the need to address the high occurrence of intervention (specifically episiotomy and caesarean section) We were able to provide additional training with regards to prenatal anatomy, the importance of prenatal education, natural birth support and techniques to avoid the unnecessary cutting of birthing women. We introduced prenatal yoga and taught the clinic staff various poses to relieve many of the common conditions experienced throughout pregnancy and birth. In addition to training the local birthing community, we assisted birthing women at the local hospital in Kiboga. This involved finding adequate drinking water for birthing women which was not available upon our arrival. Using massage, pain coping strategies and support, we were able to assist local women throughout their birth as well as visit them at their homes to provide breastfeeding support.