If you are reading this web-page because you are interested to learn more about these diocese, you are particularly welcome. Once you’ve read the links available, please click on the word ‘comment’ and tell us if you found them helpful, interesting, and also where you are from! We’d love to hear from you.

Information about project work (including our Family Holiday scheme), events and activities among Mothers’ Union members in the Diocese of Winchester can be viewed by clicking the other link pages and ‘tags’ on the top and left of your screen.

During the last few days we have posted information about three of the Diocese to whom Winchester is linked. Each can be found by scrolling down the postings on this ‘home-page’ or by clicking the ‘tag’ links. There is further background information on each via the ‘International’ heading at the top of your screen.

Muhabura, situated in Southern Uganda, is the last to be featured. In 2009 we became aware that, despite the drought conditions the region was experiencing, Mothers’ Union members were helping many refugees displaced from the Democratic Republic of Congo. This was supported by two donations from the Mothers’ Union Relief Fund, which operates to help members in the relief work they undertake in their local communities. Information from Mothers’ Union head office suggests that Muhabura members continue to care for refugees from D R Congo.

Whether you are a Mothers’ Union member, or just interested in who we are and what we do, may God bless you as you journey through life with him.

Greetings in the name of the Lord. It is long since I communicated to you. This should not discourage you, for out of sight does not mean out of mind. I do think a lot about … the entire Mothers Union in the Diocese of Winchester. How are you… and all the Mothers’ Union members?

The great silence has been because of the poor communication system. Our computer has been spoilt for over one year and every time I tried to use the public paid internet, it would be out of use and very unreliable… Praise be to God that our computer was repaired and the e-mail system is now working…

Most of our people have left the IDP [Internally Displaced People] camps and have resettled in their villages. However, the whole of Northern Uganda in which Kitgum is situated has had heat with a very bad drought and this has left people without food. We thank Mary Sumner House [head office of Mothers' Union international work] for supporting us during this time of need. They helped us with about eleven million Ugandan shillings towards this. We were able to help 150 households with food relief and also with seeds for planting when it starts raining. We have also created a seed bank where the people who harvest from the seeds supplied to them, will return a percentage to the the bank. This will be given to those who did not get [seeds initially]. This plan will greatly help our people next year, hoping that the weather will be favourable. Please pray for us that this may be so.

The clothes you sent helped a number of children who needed them. They and their parents were very grateful May God bless you so much. … May the Almighty God bless you so abundantly.

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 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 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!

Sudan/Uganda border

Mothers’ Union members in the Diocese of Winchester have links with diocese in both Southern Sudan (Kajo-Keji) and Northern Uganda (Kitgum) and so this news story from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs offers a particularly interesting insight into the  movement and  return of refugees between the two regions: Between hope and fear – refugees returning home to Southern Sudan

Although Kajo-Keji and Kitgum are not directly mentioned in this article, the experiences recounted resonate with those described by visiting Bishop’s wives who met some Mothers’ Union members in Winchester Diocese just before the Lambeth Conference last year.