Celebration with the TBAs

One of my goals with this new birth attendent's program is to value these ladies who have so much to contribute but yet are so under valued because they are women. I had to write a grant application and here is how I described it:

"One of the issues that prevents the gospel from taking root in the villages of Karamoja is that women are not empowered, in fact the opposite is true. They are demeaned and devalued. They disregard gospel presentations because they don't believe they have any decision making power.  Women overall have very little autonomy, however an access point is through women who are already birth attendants (TBAs) as these women do have some standing within the community. We aim to value these women who are serving as TBAs. Through group meetings and trainings their knowledge base can be expanded with the intention of the threefold benefit: 1.) Reduction of overall mortality and morbidity for pregnant and nursing mothers and neonates.  2.) Empowerment of the TBAs within the skills they can provide for their own communities so that others see their wisdom and value. 3.) Increase of trust and a foundation for the sharing of the gospel and discipleship so that the disciples can become those who disciple others. "

Putting them on immediately

So this week we had a little celebration of how many lives they've made a difference in. They got shirts which they really enjoyed.  They told me now they have a "uniform" so people will know they are really trained now. They also got soda and cookies. They were surprisingly excited about that too.

cookies

and soda

This is how they wanted their pictures taken. 

I told them they had to smile to show me they liked their shirts. 

Headed home