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.

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

There are many development projects being resourced. Recent posts and our information pages detail some of them, including the Family Life Programme in Uganda, and the Literacy and Development Programme.

Other projects run by Mothers’ Union worldwide are featured in the latest Overseas Development Report including healing the wounds of conflict in Kenya, peace building in Sudan, and a goat project among repatriated women in Burundi.

Sudan, DR Congo and Kenya all feature in the latest Relief Fund Update which shows how Mothers’ Union members can be resourced incredibly fast to provide relief for emergency situations that arise due to natural disasters like draught, or the impact of conflict in their communities.

In the UK and the UN Mothers’ Union is also active keeping an eye on how governments engage with family and marriage issues. Since this is conference season, the latest Policy Watch document details a paper on women’s issues published by the Liberal Democrats and a report on the impact of family breakdown, as well as looking forward to the theme of next years UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Mothers’ Union members that meet together regularly are encouraged to make use of these downloads to inspire discussion, action and fund-raising in their local communities. You are also invited to respond with your ideas for action directly to the local Trustee board using the ‘comments’ facility on this posting.

East Africa is in the middle of a drought. In Kenya the problem is particularly acute: an estimated 10 million people are already living with starvation. Speaking to the ‘Church Times’ in August, Fiona Thomas (who works at Mary Sumner House, head office of Mothers’ Union) was quoted as saying:

Mothers’ Union Kenya, had started to receive calls for help from Kenya’s 16 dio­ceses when the rains failed at Easter. The global MU had sent more than £74,000 in response, but more re­quests had poured in, and at least £190,000 was needed now. This is more than the total MU usually spend on relief work, which was £124,000 last year!

MU Kenya usually funds many of its own programmes, so for them to request that amount, the situation must have been horrific. Salome Leipa, the Mothers’ Union provincial co-ordinator for Kenya said: “This is a national disaster. We have never experienced something like this before. Some food was des­troyed last year, when violence broke out, but this shortage has been caused by the drought.

“We source what we can from our members who are able to help, but we want more support from our part­ners in the UK. It makes a big difference, because sometimes people have to go without any meal at all for a day or two. If we can give them a packet of maize meal, it can save a life.”

The sums obviously don’t add up, and the Mothers’ Union Relief Fund is sadly lacking in funds. If the rains in October fail, the Mothers’ Union in Kenya, and further afield (sources in Uganda report drought there too) will be turning still more to the Relief Fund. Can we help make sure the fund’s don’t run dry?

Mothers’ Union is asking for churches to pray for rain in East Africa this October, and for Harvest collections this year to be in aid of their Kenya Harvest Appeal