Dear Friends,
We’re emailing to ask for urgent help to secure our place on the GlobalGiving Girl Fund, helping us do more for women recovering from obstetric fistula at the Mabinti Centre in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. These women’s lives were devastated by a lack of access to quality maternal and newborn healthcare. Given your support for our maternal and newborn healthcare programs in the past, we thought you may be interested in showing your support today.
The Mabinti Centre is a project of our sister organization, CCBRT, where women recovering from surgery to repair the devastating childbirth-related injury, obstetric fistula, can be equipped to become entrepreneurs in their communities.
We’ve got one more day to win a place on the Girl Fund, which will give us exclusive access to additional funding and unlock matching gifts that will enable us to reach more women in 2017. But we need your help. We need 180 people to take action by midnight EST on March 15th to help us unlock this opportunity.
How can an you help?
Your contribution, no matter the amount, takes us one step closer to unlocking support and empowering women and girls like Lidya.
A graduate of The Mabinti Centre, Lidya’s story began with tragedy, but was transformed into one of opportunity and triumph. The trauma and grief that Lidya experienced during the delivery of her children is beyond what many of us can imagine. But, losing her first child at just 2-days-old, raising a child with a disability caused by birth complications, and developing fistula on two separate occasions, has only made Lidya stronger.
“When I was admitted to the national hospital to deliver my first baby, my doctor referred me to an intern. They used a vacuum to assist with the delivery. My baby was born with his brain outside of his body, and he died 2 days later.
After the delivery, my legs were paralyzed. My husband’s family bullied me, and told him to leave me because I was damaged, and wouldn't be able to give him any more children. He deserted me. I couldn't even afford the bus fare to attend the clinic for check-ups.
I married again, and had another child. This baby also got stuck during delivery, and was born with a disability. I was leaking. I was so ashamed that I left my husband. I left Dar es Salaam behind and went to live with my grandmother in our rural village. It was there that I read a leaflet about fistula, and realized I could get treatment. I had my surgery in 2005, and got back together with my second husband.”
Scarred both physically and emotionally by the birth of her first two children, Lidya was determined that her third pregnancy would be different.
“I always say that I ‘bought’ my third child. After all of the problems I’d had in the past, I paid to deliver at a private hospital, to ensure that my baby and I were safe. I trusted my doctor, but just before I went into labor, she was called away. She referred me to the doctor who was responsible for delivering my first baby. Once again, he left me with an intern, even though I begged him not to.
My third child was delivered safely, but the scars from my fistula opened again three days after my delivery. I had another surgery to correct it.
I finished my training at the Mabinti Centre in 2012. I now have a successful business. I go to fairs, and sell my products in my community.
My experience of living with fistula has made me the successful businesswoman I am today. I am now able to pay for my children to go to school, and my income means I can support my own siblings as well.“
In its 10 years of operation, the Mabinti Centre has restored a sense of independence, hope, and purpose to 100 women like Lidya.
Please, give what you can by midnight on March 15th, and share this project with your friends and family and encourage them to do the same. Together we can enable Mabinti to empower even more women recovering from fistula in Tanzania.
Thank you.
Starting today, your generosity could help us win a place on the GlobalGiving Girl Fund, allowing us to transform tragedy into opportunity for more women and girls like Hadidjia
Hadidjia did not have access to high quality maternal healthcare when she delivered her first baby, and had labor pains for two weeks before finally giving birth at a hospital. Her baby survived, but Hadidjia developed a devastating birth injury, obstetric fistula, and lived with chronic incontinence for a decade. Now, thanks to a fistula repair surgery at CCBRT, and her training at The Mabinti Centre, she has taken her future into her own hands.
Meet Hadidjia
“I lived like this for 10 years, with my mother. My neighbors told me I smelled, and forced me to stay inside. When my mother passed away, I had no one left to talk to, and nobody to look after me. I went to my father’s sister for help, but she told me I was cursed. She chased me away from her house and refused to let me live there. I was fired from two jobs, both times because of the smell."
"When I asked my mother’s family for help, my uncle told me that I needed to get married, and that he had found a man for me. I told him I couldn't get married, and explained why. My family told the man everything, but he wasn't discouraged. He still wanted to marry me. He had heard about fistula before, and he was the one who helped me find help from CCBRT."
"Now that I have had surgery, and I have trained at The Mabinti Centre, I have my own business. I make clothes and bags, and do embroidery and sewing. The money I earn helps me pay for my children’s school fees. I never need to worry about losing my job again, because I am my own boss.”
For the Empowerment of Women and Girls
The Mabinti Centre empowers women recovering from fistula repair surgery with the tools and confidence to start their own business or seek employment. Our new GlobalGiving project, “Give Women Recovering from Fistula a Bright Future” will raise dedicated support for the Mabinti Centre. This project is in the running to win a place on the GlobalGiving Girl Fund, giving us access to exclusive matching donations. We need your help to unlock this opportunity.
How can you help?
A donation from you, no matter the value, is a vote of confidence in the work of Kupona, and a show of support for the women and girls working hard to rebuild their lives at the Mabinti Centre.
You hold the key to unlock their potential.
Thank you,
Abbey
Dear Friends,
Last year, you - our GlobalGiving community - gave over $11,000 to help improve the quality of healthcare available to vulnerable people in Tanzania. That’s enough to support a midwife’s salary for a whole year, and provide 40 hours of clinical training, to equip the same midwife with the skills and confidence to perform high quality deliveries, and save lives.
Your donations didn't just have a direct impact on the women and newborns we serve in Tanzania. You also gave us access to nearly $3,000 in additional funding from GlobalGiving and their partners. You unlocked matching funds during GlobalGiving Bonus Days, and boosted our project ranking, attracting the support of GlobalGiving’s corporate partners and promoting our cause to other members of the GlobalGiving community. Every dollar you gave changed a life in Tanzania AND amplified our message, mobilizing your fellow change-makers to contribute to our programs.
This year, we’re committed to making it even easier for you to make the biggest impact possible.
We’re calling 2017 ‘The Year of the Bonus’. We’re participating in more GlobalGiving bonus campaigns than ever before, giving you more opportunities to unlock matching funds and multiply your generosity. We’re going to share even more stories of change and hope, not only to show you your donations in action, but also to help you share your impact with friends, family and colleagues.
Together, we have already taken huge steps toward transforming the face of healthcare in Tanzania. We can’t wait to see how much further we can go in 2017.
With gratitude,
The Kupona Team
Happy Holidays from Kupona Foundation!
We were thrilled to be a part of GlobalGiving’s Match A Million campaign on Giving Tuesday. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to raise over $4,200 for mothers and newborns in Tanzania, unlocking over $1,300 in matching funds. With over $5,500 we can fund 83 hours of clinical training for medical teams in Dar es Salaam. Tasked with delivering babies on some of the busiest labor wards in the country, training will empower these teams to provide high quality care that will save lives and prevent disability. If you haven’t yet made a donation to Kupona this holiday season it is not too late to give.
While you were flexing your giving muscles, I was in Tanzania, seeing the impact of your support first hand. Walking through the site of CCBRT’s Maternity and Newborn Hospital, I got a glimpse of the meticulous operational plans currently in development for the new facility. Everything is being designed around the patient – her safety, her rights, and her comfort. Work also continues in public healthcare facilities in Dar es Salaam. Members of the team were out of the office working with clinical teams around Dar es Salaam to build their skills and strengthen their services. The specialists at CCBRT are not stuck behind their desks - they are on the frontline, delivering babies and empowering healthcare providers to save lives.
Despite incredible progress in the last 5 years, there are still countless women and newborns facing life threatening delays in receiving the quality care they need. If you haven’t already done so, please consider a gift to Kupona this holiday season. It only takes one donation to shift the course of a person’s future: to determine whether a woman and her baby will thrive. Your donation could be the one that changes everything.
Thank you for your continued generosity. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season, and a happy and healthy 2017.
Alexandra
Twenty-year-old Selina was pregnant with her second child when she went for an antenatal visit at her local health center. The center was one of the facilities in Dar es Salaam where Kupona’s sister organization, CCBRT, has been building capacity since 2010.
This is the work your generosity supports, providing desperately needed resources and training to maternal healthcare teams, who in turn, can provide quality care for mothers and newborns. As Selina entered the center for her first appointment, your impact was obvious.
“I was surprised by the cleanliness of the facility,” she says. ”And the fact that doctors and nurses had smiles on their faces as they distributed medicine and attended to patients. I felt comfortable waiting in the busy reception area, so as my pregnancy progressed, I continued to attend the clinics.
One day while I was at home, I felt contractions begin, and knew my baby was on the way. I rushed to the center, but there was heavy traffic on the road. I feared I would not be able to reach the center in time. As I arrived, I couldn’t wait any longer. Nurses rushed out to the gate to assist, and fortunately, they got to me in time. With their help, I delivered a healthy baby boy, just paces away from the front doors.”
Selina and her baby boy might have had a different outcome at the same health center just six years earlier. Dr. Mbaga, medical officer in charge at the improved facility, shared, “A short while ago, this health center was under-staffed, ill equipped and almost empty. Now we have a thriving delivery unit and are leading clinical care standards in the region.” Dr. Mbaga credits CCBRT’s capacity building efforts with her staff’s improved confidence and ability to perform in emergency situations. Since the program began, emergency drills have become part of the routine at the health center.
“You can’t practice in an emergency,” says Dr. Mbaga. “At that stage, you work by instinct, but you need to practice to perform well under pressure. If the labor ward is quiet, we’ll gather together and work through an obstetric scenario, sometimes practicing three or four times until we get it right. Reviewing our clinical care like this, every day, helps us to improve constantly, and I see that my staff are much more capable as a result.”
This is the impact you support.
Safe birthing centers where mothers feel comfortable and confident that they are receiving high quality care. Medical teams that have been trained to handle complications and emergencies. Resourced, outfitted, clean healthcare facilities that are prepared to give the best care possible.
This Giving Tuesday, we hope you will empower us to reach even more healthcare workers, mothers and newborns.
Your contributions have helped maternal healthcare teams like Dr. Mbaga’s save lives and prevent birth-related impairments. We still have work to do,
Thanks to you, amazing progress has been made for mothers like Selina. But we won’t stop until every woman can deliver her child without fear of injury, impairment, or death.
Today is Bonus Day! Any gift made through GlobalGiving will be matched 50% by our friends at GlobalGiving and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. If you haven’t made your year-end contribution, please do so today. Are you committed to helping mothers like Selina? Please consider becoming a recurring donor – recurring donations of up to $100 will be matched at 200% for the first month. This is an incredible chance to watch your impact multiply!
Thank you for your continued generosity and support,
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