Empower OneMama Health Clinic to Sustainability!

ONEMAMA’S SENSITIZATION AND PREVENTION OF EBOLA DISEASE 

On 22 September 2022, health authorities in Uganda declared an Ebola outbreak for the first time since 2012 after a patient was declared positive for the Sudan strain (SUDV) in the Mubende District. As of 02 November 2022, the Ugandan health ministry has confirmed 129 cumulative cases and 37 deaths, and the outbreak has spread to other districts, including Bunyangabu, Kagadi, Kampala, Kassanda, Kyegegwa, Wakiso, and Jinja.

The outbreak of the Sudan Ebola strain, for which a vaccine has not yet been fully developed, is of particular concern not only to Uganda, but also to its neighboring countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South Sudan, and Kenya.

There were reports that two men who moved out of Mubende and Kassanda districts, where a lockdown was instituted by the government to avoid spread of the virus, came to Kirindi and there was some deaths of Ebola in the district of Jinja. This caused threat in our OneMama community since Jinja is very near and also these two men were not known of their status as per the Ebola virus.

Therefore, there is a need to prevent Ebola in our community by sensitizing our people of how to prevent the spread of Ebola and following the SOPs. The following guidelines/SOPs were put in place following the resources which were available. These included using local megaphones, washing of hands, use of sanitisers and masks, posters, brochures and handouts, use of thermometers, etc.

CLINIC

At the clinic we were able to buy a thermometers to check on the temperature of however visited the clinic, aprons, liquid soap to put in the hand washing containers, gloves, sanitizers, and the posters were also pinned to the noticeboard and at the gate.

Our nurses and medical staff have been using these items especially using masks, advising all the patients and whoever visits the facility to wash hands and also sanitise before he or she is worked upon.

The nurses also make it a point to check on the temperature of each and every one that comes to the clinic and those who can read and understand were given brochures to read so that they may know how to prevent ebola, signs of ebola and where to report just in case he or she suspects some signs and symptoms.

COMMUNITY

In the community local megaphones in the different villages were given announcements that have been aired for five days. Informing the community how to avoid the spread of the Ebola virus and follow all the SOPs. OneMama Director and Medical Staff have also been given airtime of 30 minutes on these local megaphones to explain to community how to prevent the spread of Ebola virus in the area. Over ten local megaphones have been visited the villages of Kirindi, Kasega, Budooda, Katikanyonyi, Nakatooke, Bukamba, Gayaza, Namirembe, Nazigo, Nsiima and Kimanya. Other local megaphones were not visited because of limited resources.

Posters and brochures were pinned in almost sixty villages to make the community aware of the deadly disease Ebola. Masks, sanitizers and brochures were also given to community members especially boda-boda cyclists in over ten stages.

As I report now most people in our community are aware of what Ebola is , how it is spread and to prevent. We were able to move in some villages given the limited funds we had but we managed to go to 40 villages and 50 villages were not reached.

However, in Uganda Ebola spread is reducing in most infected districts especially Kampala, Wakiso, Jinja, Bunyangabu, Kagadi, and Kyegegwa. In the districts of Mubende and Kassanda Ebola is still there but the Ministry of Health has ably handled the situation. Still these two districts are on lockdown until no case is identified in the area.

More About OneMama

OneMama supplies birthing kits and medical supplies, builds medical clinics, and creates a marketplace for women and their families to sell their crafts or crops. We do our work in places where people live on less than $1 per day. One birthing kit prevents mother-to-child HIV transmission and supports a woman giving birth with medicines and supplies administered by a Traditional Midwife, there to help.

OneMama’s goal is to build 250 clinics around the world that will build and support health and birthing clinics in places that do not have access to health services. We support local Traditional Midwives to deliver culturally appropriate care that is augmented by the best medical tests, treatments, and interventions available.

The OneMama Model

OneMama developed a unique model for services that can be replicated in the hardest-to-reach communities around the world. Because we honor traditional forms of health care by supporting Traditional Midwives, we gain entry into communities that would not typically trust Western medical techniques. 

We are able to bring in medical interventions that work to save mothers and infant’s lives, protecting women through childbirth, reducing pain and the birth injuries, prevent HIV transmission from mother to baby, support malaria testing and treatment, and providing health education and services to the entire family. 

Our healthcare services work in conjunction with our economic development programs, which supply families with goods needed to create crafts or crops to sell on our international and local marketplaces — so that eventually clinic members can support their own local, rural clinics. We have created a sustainable model for health care that can be replicated and become sustainable within 5-10 years.

To donate and help keep OneMama clinic in operation to save lives of mamas and babies, please visit OneMama.org.

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Siobhan “OneMama” Neilland and the OneMama Team
OneMama.org | info@OneMama.org

JOY=SUCCESS
     …Start Fighting for your JOY and the JOY of others!

“We are all OneMama Living on this One Mother Earth!…”
“We all want to feel like we are loved, and we matter in this world”

Life can be so fast-paced at times it’s hard to remember to pay attention to all the positive and influential ways life impacts us. One positive that came out of the pandemic was how it made some of us stop and look at our practices around being thankful and grateful for those things we had otherwise overlooked.

If you haven’t yet added mindful thankfulness into your routine, I’d like to share these five ways to keep your heart and mental health engaged with what truly matters — turning gratefulness into an abundance of JOY in your life.

“Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul.”
– AMY COLLETTE

 

1. DAILY MINDFULNESS OF 5 THINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR

First thing in the morning, think of 5 things that you are grateful for. Reflecting on these special things of gratitude can change your whole perspective on your day when you do this continuously.

Sometimes it’s as simple as being grateful for your cup of coffee, grateful your hands move and your legs walk, you can breathe fresh air, you have a bed you slept in with a roof over your head, grateful for the green grass or something that inspires you in nature. The more you can think of it viscerally in your body, the more that the gratitude changes you at the cellular level and rewires your mental health. 

“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.”
– BRENE BROWN

2. KEEP A GRATITUDE FOR JOY JOURNAL

For many of us, when we put our thoughts on paper, they become more real. We can re-read feelings and thoughts that would otherwise get overwritten by our chaos in our minds through our busy days. Also, sometimes it’s easy to take for granted all the blessing that we have and reading and reflecting on those reminds us not to take them for granted. 

For me, going back and forth to Uganda to the OneMama Health Center is always so eye-opening to me. All the physical things I have that others do not, that I may otherwise take for granted – a home, car, resources, bed, running water, organic food, etc. And then other things like emotional spiritual tools I use daily that help me handle the obstacles of life. When I journal about these feelings of gratefulness as I’m feeling them, it helps me to re-read and regain that sense of thankfulness over and over as time relentlessly moves on. 

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”
– ECKHARD TOLLE

 

3. GIVE GRATITUDE TO YOUR CHALLENGES

Gratitude isn’t only about being thankful for positive experiences, it’s also about looking above the challenging obstacles that are influencing us to see the bigger picture in life so we can pivot, do life differently, and rise above.

For example, a few weeks ago I had a really challenging day with confrontational leaders in my corporate work. However, I was so proud of myself how I stayed centered, grounded and used my mindfulness to allow myself not to be derailed emotionally by that. In turn, it turned into a good day even though it was a hard day.

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.”
– ANONYMOUS

 

4. INDULGE IN PEOPLE AND THINGS YOU ARE GRATEFUL FOR

Express your gratitude to those you care about. If you email, call, write, make time for the people you care about in your life and express to them how grateful you are for them in your lives, studies show that it increases happiness in both of your lives.

This is true for my philosophy of how JOY is contagious!

You improve your thankfulness and build up those feelings of gratitude by doing things you love – being a physical part of those things you are grateful for. Exercise, go at the ocean, camp and be in nature, go for a walk or a hike, visit your friends or family, dine at your favorite restaurant, you name it! Surround yourself in those things that bring you JOY, and as you do these things, make sure to take note how grateful you are for your experiences.

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
– THORNTON WILDER

 

5. BE OF SERVICE TO OTHERS

Finally, the real key to being happy and grateful is to give back to others. The more you give… the more you get to keep in joy and happiness. Studies show that volunteering or being of service increases our own well being and the ability to have, show, and share more gratitude.

I am more grateful for the simple things in life now than ever before. My morning tea, the view over my back deck, my amazing bed I get to sleep in, my friends who I can talk about anything with and be my whole self with, my extraordinary partner I get to laugh with… I’m grateful for my work I do in the corporate world and with OneMama. Being of service brings so much JOY to my heart and mind… I’m so grateful I found that part of myself. I’m grateful for the use of my body; to be able to walk and run. Grateful I can sing and play and swim in the ocean. I’m mostly grateful I can breathe in the sunlight of the spirit… and smile. 

“It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.”
– DAVID STEINDL-RAST

Sending all my gratitude to my JOY Warrior friends and OneMama family. 

HAPPY Holiday Season and Happy New Year!

Love and light,
Siobhan

Moving to More Local Resources During Hard Economic Times 

In recent times, OneMama has been working at bare minimums. Due to the financial climate of the world, the pandemic effects, and local resources scarce and Ugandan government restrictions in place, the OneMama Health Clinic still fights to stay open!

OneMama Health Clinic seeks a Class III medical center status in Uganda.

Since OneMama has raised the ranks from a mud hut birthing babies, sometimes in secrecy, on blood-soiled reused mats with little to no birthing supplies to a Class II health center with a modern building with electricity, funding derived from local sustainable and international sources, and serving thousands of patients a year — we now are asking the Ugandan Parliament to grant the clinic Class III status!

To better understand the structure of the health system in Uganda, here’s a great diagram showing the various tiers and meaning of each:

Structure of the health system in Uganda.  The Area Member of the Ugandan Parliament, Honorary Nsanja Patrick, and 15 Other Honorary Members Visited the OneMama Clinic July 30th, 2022.

On July 30th, 2022, the area member of parliament and fifteen other Honorary Members of Parliament from different constituencies paid a courtesy call to the OneMama medical facility. The Members of Parliament were welcomes at the site by the OneMama Board of Directors, the Community Advisory Board, district political leaders, sub-county leaders, OneMama staff and community member of OneMama.

During the Honorary Members’ visit, we were able to present our laid out report of our clinic and request for the OneMama clinic to be a Class III center. The report included an introduction, brief background, our objectives, achievements, challenges and future plans.

Included among the challenges presented to the Honorary Members are as follows:

• Limited funds for some medical supplies, domestic violence sensitization, medical personnel, etc.
• Limited rooms or wards for patients as we have a small ward where women, men and children are all admitted. 
• No capital development for our women group to enhance economic sustainability programs.
• Running water. There was a recent extension of piped water brought to Kirindi, so we also request for our OneMama Health Clinic to be considered for piped water. Without appropriate water infrastructure and services, our patients, healthcare workers, and communities are at increased risk of disease. For example, if patients or staff drink unsafe water when they are thirsty, or when taking oral medications, they could get sick with a waterborne disease. Water infrastructure and services are also essential to allow healthcare workers to perform appropriate infection prevenntion and control (IPC) practices. For example, both healthcare workers and patients need access to hand hygiene supplies to reduce the risk of spreading infections through unwashed hands. Water is also essential for cleaning rooms, beds, floors, toilets, sheets and laundry. It is central to patient experiences of health care, as it enables them to remain hydrated, to clean themselves, and to reduce the risk of infections.

Simply put, without water, a health care facility isn’t a health care facility. So, it is our humble prayer that the OneMama Health Clinic gets the piped clean and safe running water as a permanent solution to solve the water problems we have long endured.

• Lack of ambulance for referrals, especially mothers during birthing. Given the fact that we have a maternity center, there are circumstances where there is a need for an ambulance for referrals. However, we use Boda bodas when uncertainties come and this is very risky to mothers who get complications during delivery.
• Lack of an ultrasound scanner. Given the nature of our clinic that deals with maternity, there is need for a scanner for regular checkups of mothers and for detecting complications so as to make referrals before it is too late.
• Shortages of beds and mattresses for patients, especially those admitted when having serious cases. There are many days when there’s too many patients and when beds are few and there were no accommodations available for these patients. In addition, we have limited rooms or wards to accommodate patients.
• The effect of COVID-19 has led to an increase in teenage pregnancies. During our prenatal and immunization services, we have realized that a number of female children below 18 years of age have reproduced and many have dropped out of school. We therefore are able to equip these underage mothers with skills for their sustainability.
• In addition, so many female students either perform poorly or drop out of school because they lack sanitary pads according to the research made. Because of this, we started making reusable sanitary pads to give to the girls for free. However, due to the handicapping by COVID, we have had limited funding and resources to continue. 
• Accreditation. OneMama Health Clinic serves a much larger population now than it used to. People come from near and far seeking the services at our clinic. Given the funding constraints, our sustainability is at stake. We therefore request for the Honorary Member’s guidance for government accreditation so as to receive PHC funds and other governmental supplied services.
• Road access. Road accessibility to the facility, especially to pregnant mothers during rainy season, is extremely challenging. The road needs improvement for easy and safe accessibility to and from the center.

In his address, the area member of Parliament, Honorary Nsanja Patrick, made the following remarks:

• Donated fifteen (15) mattresses and 20 loaves of bread.
• Promised to rehabilitate the road to the OneMama Health Clinic and according to the district road engineer, the road needs 350 litres of fuel (diesel) worth 2,500,000 Uganda Shillings. He directed the sub-county political head to bring a grader tractor to immediately start the road and will hand him diesel gas. The road rehabilitation began on August 4^th, 2022, and the chairman has called and confirmed that the machines are ready to begin the work.
• Also promised to present the accreditation process for OneMama Health Clinic facility to Parliament for review. He informed that the government is phasing out grade II health centers and in case his lobbying goes through with the Committee of Health in the Parliament, OneMama will be upgraded to a Health Center III.
• Plans to involve all stake holders for the case of running water. This needs a lot of money, and he has so many issues to deal with in the whole constituency, that all must be involved to bring forth this action. However, he will come in at a later stage and will support to a degree, however the rest of the other stakeholders will have to take a lead.
• Create a partnership to help with the increased cases of teenage pregnancy and for those female children who have reproduced who are below 18 years old and for the lack of sanitary pads among school going girls. The Member of Parliament for Nansana Municipality, Wakiso District, promised to connect us to organizations that can help them. He requested the directors of OneMama to write up a project proposal on this challenge.

A Win for OneMama Health Clinic!

In a nutshell, the Area Member of Parliament promised to cooperate with the Board of Directors of OneMama to see that the challenges facing the facility get solutions one by one. He said that there is need to support Mama Jamira in improving her herbs and also continuous research for improvements of these herbs. She thanked Mama Jamira for this almost voluntary work of treating the community with herbs and helping mothers deliver babies safely.

OneMama is asking YOU…
Can you consider our small grassroots non-profit health center as one of your organizations that you support with your philanthropic efforts this year?

OR! Possibly you may know a large private donor that would be willing to fund our clinic? If you have any referrals, please send an email introduction to Siobhan Neilland directly at info@onemama.org. 

Personal Letter from OneMama CEO/Founder, Siobhan Neilland:

You are our OneMama World Family…and…. I literally wake up at night worried about keeping things running in these trying times. Resources are scarce and engagement is very low (the lowest in our 16 years since conception).

I struggle personally with this because OneMama is the only baby I’ll ever truly have, and as the founding Mama to this baby, I feel like a single mom, and I struggle to keep the resources needed so we can continue helping other Mamas, ones who really need the help.

        OneMama.org is struggling and needs a miracle right NOW. Donations are so low they are not covering all the medical supplies we need or the staff, and we have had some rough choices to make. OneMama was forced again to reduce medical staff and supplies, essential programs, education, and much more and sadly the community is feeling it!

         The other day, I was talking to someone about this baby I never knew I had, and they were so in awe by the story and how well OneMama’s franchisable program really works. They asked, “Why don’t you have more clinics?”

         I just cried… because this model really does work, and we are saving lives and improving health and livelihood for so many Mamas, their babies, and families in need. Yet there simply isn’t enough help. I can’t do this alone…We need to raise up together to support our global communities.

         I feel like a struggling single mother, hoping my baby can spread her wings and fly… yet the lack of resources is crippling her.

         So I ask the Universe for help. And I ask you, if you are at all inspired and, like me, feel it deep in your heart that you can make a difference to all mother’s on this planet… then I ask you to please, go to OneMama.org and see how you can get involved.

Together, we can raise up all Mothers and let all babies know that they matter in this world!

Please, if you are not fully familiar with us, please visit our website for more info at OneMama.org or read below.

More About OneMama

OneMama supplies birthing kits and medical supplies, builds medical clinics, and creates a marketplace for women and their families to sell their crafts or crops. We do our work in places where people live on less than $1 per day. One birthing kit prevents mother-to-child HIV transmission and supports a woman giving birth with medicines and supplies administered by a Traditional Midwife, there to help.

OneMama’s goal is to build 250 clinics around the world that will build and support health and birthing clinics in places that do not have access to health services. We support local Traditional Midwives to deliver culturally appropriate care that is augmented by the best medical tests, treatments, and interventions available.

The OneMama Model

OneMama developed a unique model for services that can be replicated in the hardest-to-reach communities around the world. Because we honor traditional forms of health care by supporting Traditional Midwives, we gain entry into communities that would not typically trust Western medical techniques. 

We are able to bring in medical interventions that work to save mothers and infant’s lives, protecting women through childbirth, reducing pain and the birth injuries, prevent HIV transmission from mother to baby, support malaria testing and treatment, and providing health education and services to the entire family. 

Our healthcare services work in conjunction with our economic development programs, which supply families with goods needed to create crafts or crops to sell on our international and local marketplaces — so that eventually clinic members can support their own local, rural clinics. We have created a sustainable model for health care that can be replicated and become sustainable within 5-10 years.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Thank YOU again for ALL the work you do and have done all these years for OneMama. I am so incredibly grateful to know there are humans like YOU making big changes in this wild world.

It inspires me daily to know it can be done.

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Siobhan “OneMama” Neilland and the OneMama Team
OneMama.org | info@OneMama.org

JOY=SUCCESS
     …Start Fighting for your JOY and the JOY of others!

“We are all OneMama Living on this One Mother Earth!…”
“We all want to feel like we are loved and we matter in this world”

NGO OneMama and Delegates Attend the 50th Anniversary and 66th Session on the Commission

on the Status of Women Virtually

As an ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organization (NGO), we are honored to be able to bring a voice for the OneMama village to the United Nations CSW66 world stage…virtually!

The OneMama delegates and family are optimistic through the ups and downs surrounding the past few years of unprecedented times that are causing great strain on the work OneMama does, as it has for many NGOs. We are excited to ride the motivation leading up to the CSW in order to continue our work towards lasting change on a global scale and in conformity with the 2022 CSW themes. 

THANK YOU to all who attended and helped make this event a great community success!

You can find our event page HERE for all the details. We were able to capture the event live and you can find that HERE and below:

What is the CSW66?

This year, the 66^th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66), the UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s empowerment, will take place from 14 to 25 of March, under the following themes:

• Priority theme: Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes;
• Review theme: Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work (agreed conclusions of the sixty-first session);

Since last year’s session was strictly virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s session will be a hybrid version with main sessions on the UN campus in New York City and all side and parallel events held virtually.

More Resources:

• CSW 66 official documents
• Side events

UN released data shows that progress to achieve gender equality in public life and decision-making has been too slow.

• Women make up 25 per cent of parliamentarians globally, and only three countries have 50 per cent or more women in parliament.
• Less than one per cent of parliamentarians are women under 30 years of age.
• Women make up only 13 per cent of negotiators, 6 per cent of mediators and 6 per cent of signatories in formal peace processes.
• In 2020, only 7.4 per cent of Fortune 500 companies were run by women.
• Just 22 countries in the world are headed by a woman.

At the current rate of progress, it will take another 130 years to reach gender equality at the highest positions of power.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted women disproportionately – from loss of jobs to rise in violence against women and unpaid care work. Although women are at the front line of COVID-19 response as healthcare workers, innovators and leaders, their contributions remain less visible and less valued. Only 3.5 per cent of COVID-19 task forces across 87 countries had gender parity.

So, what happens when women lead? Evidence shows that when women are in power, they invest in often-overlooked policy measures – from expanding healthcare and education to green economies and ending violence against women – that ultimately build sustainable and resilient futures.

Building back better from COVID-19 needs women at the centre, leading, making decisions that serve the planet, address inequalities, and achieve equal power-sharing.

Achieving gender equality in leadership and decision-making is possible. Gender quotas in legislatures and other sectors, zero tolerance to violence, special measures that enable women to enter the political pipeline, and dedicated funding to women’s organizations, have proven to be catalytic in bringing change.

OneMama’s Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The global COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges to the advancement and security of women. Its impact on rural communities worldwide proved particularly devastating with women trapped in domestic violence situations, limited access to medical care, and a veritable collapse of economic opportunities.

Building an inclusive and effective path for the sustainable and resilient recovery from the pandemic while honoring the 2030 Agenda and principle of “ensuring that no one is left behind” at the global, regional and national levels is crucial.

As an NGO supporting the rural community of Kirindi in Uganda (East Africa), OneMama is an emblematic case study of the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic both exacerbated and enhanced for rural communities and their women globally. OneMama Inc. promotes sustainable development, maternal health, and community health in a rural model and advocates for sustainable and resilient recovery through our unique programming. We advocate for building an inclusive and effective path for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda particularly around the SDGs that closely align with our program and work: Goal 1 (No Poverty), Goal 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), Goal 5 (Gender Equality), Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). Sustainable development will not holistically happen until rural women and their communities are considered.

In rural areas in Uganda, particularly that of Kirindi, COVID-19 restrictions on transportation (motorcycle and buses) have made it extremely difficult for women to get to our health clinic without walking long distances while pregnant or suffering from illnesses. COVID-19 restrictions also put a halt on all community meetings, craft and OneMama collection women’s group meetings, including our ability to offer limited domestic violence prevention trainings.

Sales of agricultural crops in physical market places shrunk drastically due to contact restrictions and transportation cuts. All these restrictions are also making it hard to get medical supplies like our birth control and medications. Simple home COVID-19 tests have been impossible to access so we can’t track it in our community. The vaccines that have been made recently will most likely never reach our community and if they do they also may not keep since we don’t have the kind of refrigeration needed to protect the vaccine. Domestic violence has increased significantly with the lock downs, giving the women no alternatives to flee or free themselves.

We recommend the following actions to ensure rural women in all global communities are not left behind as developed parts of the world rise from the pandemic more rapidly:

• Tracking health issues we suspect to be COVID-19 due to absence of testing and official tracking. We are watching and communicating daily with our patients and community and increasing medical supplies for both the birthing and medical clinic.
• Obtaining and administering COVID-19 vaccines to all staff and high risk community members.
• Hosting community education days on COVID-19, birthing, family planning, best practices in self-care and domestic violence prevention.
• Searching for funding and partnerships as international restrictions halted 75% of funding.

A partner to provide COVID-19 testing and a vaccine that is distributable in rural areas without refrigeration access.

Click Here to read the Full Statement by OneMama. How Can You Get Involved?

To donate to OneMama’s programs, click here.

If you are interested to be a OneMama UN Delegate, click here.

Interested in hearing about our past trips to the CSW? Recaps from past years:

CSW65 2021
CSW64 2020
CSW63 2019
CSW62 2018
CSW61 2017
CSW60 2016
CSW59 2015