Support 225 adolescent mothers to thrive in Uganda

Act4Africa is celebrating our 20th Year in November, and you are invited to celebrate with us! 

We would like to personally invite you to our virtual celebration on Saturday 20th November at 12pm GMT via Zoom. Our 20th celebration with a virtual tour of Uganda, will bring our community from across the world together to reflect and celebrate all we have achieved. We are excited to bring you something a little different this year, and we hope that you can join us. 

Through your generous giving you are helping to give young women and children access to a brighter future. Over the last 20 years Act4Africa has changed attitudes, transformed communities, and saved lives across East Africa. Over the last 20 years, we have:

• Provided holistic health and vocational training to hundreds of vulnerable adolescent mothers (see case study below)
• Provided quality early-years’ education to over 100 children at Kathy’s Kindergarten
• Trained over 600 healthcare workers and young people to teach others about gender equality and sexual health
• Provided life skills, financial literacy and business enterprise skills to over 9000 disadvantaged women and girls
• Supported 13 girls since 2018 to progress through higher education as part of our Grow A Girl programme
• Provided almost two million people with HIV/AIDS and sexual health awareness training
• Through Grains for Growth, we provided agriculture training for 35 small-holder farmers, increasing their ability to feed their families and earn an income

We could not have delivered our projects without your support, which has given the greatest gift of all to the people of Uganda, the gift of a better life. We would love to celebrate with you on Saturday 20th November 12 at 12:00 GMT, if you can join us please RSVP by Monday 1st November via emailing admin@act4africa.org.uk

Case Study: Amina

Amina is currently taking part in the Act4Africa programme for Adolescent Mothers which provides mental health support, sexual and reproductive education, and vocational training. Her life has been transformed through her interactions with her peers and the caring Act4Africa staff. 

Amina, 20 years old, is a married mother of 4 children

Amina was married at the age of 15 to a man who used drugs. Amina’s husband was violent and abused her. The couple lived with the husband’s parents and they did not intervene in the abuse – they said it was due to Amina’s behaviour and they didn’t recognise or admit that the husband was using drugs. Amina felt a lot of stress, and had no support. Looking back on it, she says she was traumatised. She had been suffering from debilitating head-aches and taking painkillers everyday. She even sought medical care from the hospital as the headaches were so severe. These headaches may have been a physical manifestation of the stress Amina was experiencing.

During the Act4Africa session on Stress Management, Amina said her heart was touched and she realised she wanted to come out of the abusive situation she was in. After learning about stress management and self-care, Amina made some changes in her life. She began to take care of herself and value herself, internalising the positive affirmations provided by Act4Africa staff and peers in the programme. As a result she says she is a better mother and wife now, and amazingly her husband also changed his ways. After discussing their life situation with the Act4Africa team, he decided to stop using drugs, and he stopped beating Amina. He has spoken with pride at community meetings about how his life, and the life of his family, has improved as a result of the programme. Amina has also stopped beating her children and has learned better ways to express herself and manage feelings of stress. Amazingly, her headaches, which were once nearly constant, have completely disappeared. 

Through the Act4Africa programme, Amina has become a leader and an influential member of her community. She has started her own business selling food items and is so proud to be able to provide for her family. In sessions at Kathy’s Centre, Amina really enjoys tailoring skills training and she helps her peers – organising the other young mothers to keep their work environment clean, and she helps others with tailoring skills when they need a hand. Amina’s life has been fundamentally transformed, and now her talents can shine through. We can see that she will be a great change agent in her community.

Thank you for supporting this life changing work!

Links:

• Act4Africa Website