We remember in prayer [...]]]> As always, and despite the way the financial climate is impacting on both the income and expenditure of charities like Mothers’ Union, there is much to thank God for, and get involved in, among the work of Mothers’ Union members around the world. Here’s just a few things to use:

We remember in prayer those in Christchurch, New Zealand: MU_Prayer_earthquake_Christchurch

Prayer is always at the heart of every Mothers’ Union gathering and all the project work that we do around the world. Resources for the mid-day prayers of supporters for the next couple of months are here:
Midday_Prayers_March_2011

Woman carrying thatch in Kajo-Keji

Midday_Prayers_April_2011

In the latest Mothers’ Union Faith and Policy Watch (published jointly with the Church of England) there are details of government announcements relating to weddings and marriage, as well as the Law Commission’s consultation on marital agreements (pre-nuptual, post-nuptual and at seperation) and asks how these ideas can be related to the vows in the Anglican rite of marriage. The paper also asks if the last government’s target of eliminating child poverty by 2020 has been forgotten? The 4 page newsletter can be downloaded here: Faith_Policy_Watch_Mar_11

Red Nose Day takes place on Friday 18th March. Money raised from the day helps Comic Relief support projects that transform lives throughout the UK and Africa. One such project is Mothers’ Union’s Literacy and Financial Education Programme in Sudan. Last year it was successful in getting a grant of nearly £1million from Comic Relief, because it is proven to be successful at helping to alleviate poverty and inequality. We’re hoping that this work may soon be active in areas of Southern Sudan, including our link in Kajo-Keji.

Although this seems like a lot of money, the current financial climate continues to present us with enormous challenges to ensure that we can continue our work. Although we make every effort to be cost-effective with our plans, we still need to find money for our work in the UK and overseas. If you would like to help us why not take a look at our national website for the different ways you can support us: Mothers’ Union – Giving

There is much more information [...]]]> The work of Mothers’ Union and it’s members in the Diocese of Winchester and it’s partner dioceses will be at the centre of all prayers shared by Mothers’ Union members worldwide between January 21st -25th as it becomes for that period the focus of Mothers’ Union ‘Wave of Prayer’.

There is much more information about our links in Northern and Southern Uganda, Southern Tanzania and Southern Sudan here, and through the International ‘drop down’ boxes at the top of this screen. We should be particularly mindful as we pray this year of the referendum in Southern Sudan featured by the BBC here and in pictures here, and the security and future issues surrounding the results of the (expected) vote for independence.

There will be local services going on across the Diocese of Winchester during this period, where prayer and worship can be shared, and news gained of the specific areas of the world with which we share in prayer. Below are the details of the service to be held in Winchester during the period. If you have a service happening with your Mothers’ Union group in the Diocese of Winchester, please share the details using the ‘comments’ box below.

Winchester Deanery will be holding their Wave of Prayer Service at
St. Lawrence’s Church, Winchester City Centre on
Tuesday, 25th January

You are welcome to meet from 10.00 am for pre-service Coffee, and the service starts at 10.30 am.

Worship will be led by Deanery Chaplain, Revd Mike Gardner and the
Guest Speaker will be Mrs Angela Bushell, talking about our wider diocesan link with Burma.

Monies raised from retiring collection will go the to work of the Mothers’ Union Overseas.

Mothers’ Union members in the Diocese of Winchester are linked with members in the Diocese of Kajo-Keji in Southern Sudan, which neighbours the Diocese of Yei where Poppy, a Mothers’ Union member from Winchester, works for most of [...]]]>

Mothers’ Union members leading worship in a church in the Diocese of Yei, Southern Sudan

Mothers’ Union members in the Diocese of Winchester are linked with members in the Diocese of Kajo-Keji in Southern Sudan, which neighbours the Diocese of Yei where Poppy, a Mothers’ Union member from Winchester, works for most of the year. By understanding the conditions that Poppy lives in, and the issues she works with, it is possible to understand better the lives of fellow members in Southern Sudan.

Since Poppy’s husband John retired, they have spent most of the year in Yei. This is about 100 miles from Kajo-Keji, lying south of the Nuba mountains in Sudan, and about 2000 miles South-East from Darfur. Until 2005, Poppy was a health visitor, with a two year spell working with asylum seakers (most of whom were from Sudan). These experiences, combined with a course in Tropical Medicine, have enabled her to improve the health care provision in the Yei region.

The population of Southern Sudan is about 10 million. Around 92% of women can’t read and write. 27% of girls go to school, but there are 1000 primary aged children per trained teacher. Health is generally poor: 1 in 7 women die from maternity related complications with 95% of births taking place at home without qualified help. There are only 10 certified midwives and 88 doctors for the whole population of Southern Sudan. Polio has returned, not helped by the fact that 97% of homes do not have toilets. A girl has a higher chance of dying in childhood than of finishing her education.

The Martha Primary Health Care Centre where Poppy’s work is based, had been open in Yei for some time and had three staff when Poppy arrved. There was an untrained dispenser and a technician who could not understand why he had to wear protective gloves! The conditions were terrible. The refrigerator (with intermittent power) contained a single pack of blood. The cholera tent was equipped with dirty cholera beds (they have a hole under which a bucket is placed to take the waste from patients who don’t have the strength to walk), the floor was rarely cleaned, and there were no intravenous fluids available for dehydrated patients. The few medicines that were available were not stored or dispensed according to instructions, and were kept on a dirty floor.

In May 2007 Poppy conducted a Community Health Survey to establish the healthcare needs of the population and ways to provide healthcare promotion. Work on improving the Centre started in April 2007; in March 2008, thanks to Irish funding, a new clinic was opened next door to the old one by the Archbishop of Sudan.

The recently renovated old building will be used as a day clinic for immunisations, tests etc. whilst the new building is used for nursing patients. The new building has running water, which is most unusual in Sudan, and operates to UK standards. The Martha Clinic treats 2000 people per month, some of whom walk up to 10 miles for treatment. The ante-natal clinic has 900 patients per month and more than 1000 come for immunisation. Malaria is prevalent (35% of patients) and over 6000 mosquito nets have been given out. Most of the diseases that Poppy treats are, like malaria, preventable. The clinic also offers a mobile service to outlying villages, using a fully stocked Land Rover – treating more than 90 patients each day.

There are great plans for the future of the clinic. A presently unused building in the grounds has been selected for renovation enabling one half to be a children’s ward and the other to provide eye surgery. Poppy and John are seeking funding from various agencies and have formed their own charity as well – Brickworks. This also facilitates training for medical students. Initially 20 went to Kampala for nine months training, then a further 10 students were found training places in locations including Khartoum, Kampala, Liverpool and Arua.

The regional Yei Civil Hospital has just one doctor. Poppy is currently investigating the formation of a link between this hospital and Winchester Hospital. This has been successful in other areas; both Poole and St Mary’s (Isle of Wight) hospitals have links to overseas health facilities.

Mothers’ Union members preparing for their service and worship in Yei Diocese, Southern Sudan

Poppy and John visit many communities with active Mothers’ Union members. One, about 15 miles from their home, involves a journey which takes 3 hours; the infrastructure is still incredibly poor after the civil war. Local Mothers’ Union members near Poppy’s home meet outside a church (shown on page 17), the roof of which blew off. This has recently been replaced using funds donated by Christ Church Winchester, where Poppy and John worship when in the UK.

Other snapshots of life in the region include:

• The cathedral in Yei Diocese is a magnificent building which seats 1500 at each of 4 services every Sunday! The average age of the congregation is just 25 years of age;
• The airstrip at Yei where goats and people roam at will, amongst landing and maneuvering small aircraft;
• The frequently foul-looking village water supplies and the more modern supplies that can be provided from boreholes where funding is given;
• A typical classroom where children are seated on the ground under the shelter of a tree, although 6 proper classrooms have been built in Yei Diocese and the Bishop of Yei has plans for a total of 10!

Mothers’ Union is a large family with members in 81 countries around the world. As with any big family, keeping in touch is important, and we do this by having small groups of regions called diocese (because we’re based on the Anglican pattern of ‘government’) linked [...]]]>

Mothers' Union members working together in Muhabura

Mothers’ Union is a large family with members in 81 countries around the world. As with any big family, keeping in touch is important, and we do this by having small groups of regions called diocese (because we’re based on the Anglican pattern of ‘government’) linked together. Each of these small groups is then the focus of the whole organisation’s prayers for a few days each year, in what we call the Mothers’ Union ‘Wave of Prayer’.

Mothers’ Union in the Diocese of Winchester, together with it’s close associates, Kitgum (Northern Uganda), Muhabura (Southern Uganda), Masasi (Southern Tanzania), Kajo-Keji (Southern Sudan) and members who live in Algoma, and Saskatchewan in Canada, are at the centre of all Mothers’ Union prayers between 21st – 25th January each year.

Prayer and worship is an important means of supporting each other, and therefore every three years we produce a service outline in which we can focus on the needs of each of these regions of the world.

We have now produced a new ‘Wave of Prayer’ service for use by Mothers’ Union groups in the Diocese of Winchester who wish to meet together during the week of 21st – 25th January, and so that they can start their planning it can be downloaded here: Wave of Prayer 2011-13 It is now also available as an editable Word file here: Wave of Prayer 2011 in Word

If you live and worship in any of our link Diocese, or have any other connection with them or us, or simply want to focus on this way of being community during this particular week in January, you are most welcome to use it too.

One Mothers’ Union member from the Diocese of Winchester has spent several years living and working among the people of Southern Sudan, and she has offered to share her experiences with everyone who is interested in the region and [...]]]> Join Mothers’ Union members in the Diocese of Winchester to hear news from Southern Sudan.

One Mothers’ Union member from the Diocese of Winchester has spent several years living and working among the people of Southern Sudan, and she has offered to share her experiences with everyone who is interested in the region and it’s people.

Tales of South Sudan
Crosfield Hall, Romsey 6.00-9.00pm (refreshments from 5.30pm)
Thursday 15th July 2010
Speaker: Poppy Spens

In the last four years Poppy and her husband have set up 2 health centres, a mobile clinic, and this year a children’s’ ward and eye clinic opens. The picture shown here was taken by Poppy and shows Mothers’ Union members who will feature in her slide show.

Mothers’ Union in the Diocese of Winchester is linked in prayer with Mothers’ Union members in the Southern Sudanese Diocese of Kajo-Keji.

The evening will also feature other news about Mothers’ Union work locally and around the globe, including this years Family Holiday which local members and supporters will be running for a week in August on the Isle of Wight.

Directions for Crosfield Hall, Romsey are downloadable here: Crosfield Hall

Mothers’ Union has families of Diocese stretching across the world [...]]]> Last week, Mothers’ Union backed calls from Churches in Sudan for peace and a respect for human rights to be upheld as the country prepares for national elections in April 2010 and crucial referendum in January 2011 on unity or independence for Southern Sudan.

Mothers’ Union has families of Diocese stretching across the world who pray for each other regularly, and who collectively form a ‘Wave of Prayer’. One of Winchester’s permanent links is with Kajo-Keji in Southern Sudan, and from tomorrow (January 21st) they and their partner diocese of Kitgum and Muhabura (in Uganda) and Masasi (in Tanzania) will be at the centre of all Mothers’ Union prayers around the world.

As one of the key agencies from the Church involved in bringing humanitarian and development assistance to the people of Sudan, Mothers’ Union has spoken out to lend support to Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, from the Episcopal Church of the Sudan, calling for urgent international support for efforts to maintain the fragile Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The CPA was signed in 2005 ending a long and devastating civil war, but violence is now on the increase across the region.

[Full details of the situation and issues surrounding it can be found among recent Chatham House papers, and recent speeches by Archbishop Rowan Williams, and Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul can be downloaded from the Archbishops website.]

A Mothers' Union literacy group in Southern Sudan

Mothers’ Union has a membership of 15,000 women in Sudan, and runs an extensive Literacy & Development programme (MULDP) in the country, working closely with the Episcopal Church of the Sudan. The CPA has enabled Mothers’ Union Sudan’s Literacy Trainers to extend the programme to communities in Southern Sudan who were previously isolated through conflict. This progress is at risk should the fragile peace not be protected.

Naomi Herbert, Senior Programme Officer for Mothers’ Union said “Before the CPA our development programme couldn’t reach out of the controlled area of Juba and the areas in the North. Since the CPA our volunteers have brought the programme into isolated and previously inaccessible interior regions. Communities are now engaging in new businesses, roads enable markets to be accessible, more food is available, and people have better access to healthcare and natal facilities. All efforts need to be made by governments and agencies to facilitate open dialogue between north and south on key issues of wealth sharing, so that the people of the South are not plunged in to a conflict over resources at a time when peace is making such a difference to the lives of ordinary women, men and children across Sudan.”

However, there are other issues that specifically affect Kajo-Keji. The Diocese of Kajo-Keji has not yet been able to introduce and implement the MULDP. Funding provided by Mothers’ Union for the programme (which also operates in Burundi and Malawi ) used to be matched by funding from Comic Relief for the project, but that source is now exhausted. The challenge is therefore to find funding for the Mothers’ Union’s Literacy and Development Programme that will allow it to continue in the areas it has already reached, and specifically to expand into regions like Kajo-Keji where it would prove equally effective.

Every family is formed by a network of relationships where some members have particularly close relationships, and the same is true of the Mothers’ Union family; each diocese which has Mothers’ Union members is linked closely with a small group of other [...]]]>

A map of Uganda showing the location of Kitgum and Muhabura

Every family is formed by a network of relationships where some members have particularly close relationships, and the same is true of the Mothers’ Union family; each diocese which has Mothers’ Union members is linked closely with a small group of other Mothers’ Union diocese around the globe, so that they get to know each other particularly well. They can they pray for each other, and if appropriate support each other in more practical ways, and occasionally with visits. Each small group of diocese are also at the centre of the daily prayers of all members for a few days each year, forming what we call our ‘Wave of Prayer’.

Mothers’ Union members in the Diocese of Winchester are linked in this way with fellow members in Kitgum (Northern Uganda), Muhabura (South Western Uganda), Masasi (Southern Tanzania) and Kajo-Keji (Southern Sudan). Together we are at the centre of the ‘Wave of Prayer’ from 21st – 25th January each year.

During that week Mothers’ Union groups in churches across the Diocese of Winchester will be meeting to pray for members in their partner Diocese. An order of service that can be used for these prayers can be downloaded by clicking on this link: MUWinchester_WaveOfPrayerService2010

There are several things to remember if you are arranging such a service this year:

• We are just entering a new triennial of leadership in the Mothers’ Union, but being early in January much updated information is not yet available to us especially regarding the names of leaders and workers. The most up to date information we have on countries is available by following the links attached to the place names above, and by looking at a copies of ‘Families Worldwide’ which will have featured them over the last few months.
• Historically we also have a link with Algoma in Canada which is why they are mentioned in the service sheet, but recently there has been no information as to whether there are any Mothers’ Union members active there.

On Monday 11th January, Archbishop Deng from the Episcopal Church of Sudan and Archbishop Rowan Williams will be meeting with PM Gordon Brown to discuss the ongoing necessity for a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Sudan. Kajo-Keji is in Southern Sudan and directly affected the peace agreement and the forthcoming elections this April and a crucial referendum in January 2011. There will be a statement later that day which will try and feature on this website and the situation and information should help inform our prayers for the Diocese of Kajo-Keji.

In the next couple of weeks we will also seek updated information about situations in our other link Diocese and feature them on this website, so please visit us regularly to keep up to date.

Crops have failed for the third time in 12 months, livestock are dead or dying and families are spending all [...]]]> Mothers’ Union members in the Diocese of Winchester are linked with fellow members in specific regions of Uganda, Sudan and Tanzania. All these regions are now affected by devasting famine conditions across East Africa.

Crops have failed for the third time in 12 months, livestock are dead or dying and families are spending all their time foraging for whatever food they can find. People in the hardest hit areas are eating leaves and roots in the forest to survive.

Mothers’ Union members can distribute support to those who need it most, because they live in and understand the specific needs of their communities. They have identified at least 300,000 families who need our support to stay alive.

There is lots of information available by following the links here to help you raise the profile of this crisis that isn’t being talked about by the governments of the affected countries. Mothers’ Union is one of the few agencies promoting the plight of the region. Please use the downloads and links to highlight the crisis, and raise funds in your community and church.

Click the highlighted text to download your East Africa Famine Crisis – Situation Summary

The poster pictured here is available from our head office in London, but can also be downloaded as a full colour A3 poster by clicking this link: Harvest Has Failed – A3 Poster

There is more information on the central Mothers’ Union website including the facility to donate online here: East Africa Appeal

“Actions in Truth” are working particularly with children’s education and orphan’s including those who have been displaced into northern Uganda, where of course we also have a link with the [...]]]> A small charity has contacted us through this website with more information about Kajo-Keji in southern Sudan, which is one of our international links.

“Actions in Truth” are working particularly with children’s education and orphan’s including those who have been displaced into northern Uganda, where of course we also have a link with the Diocese of Kitgum.

If you look at their website you will find lots of photographs, news about how much education costs and about sponsoring children in the region. If you use their links page there is access to some songs being sung by the children!