Welcome to the world, S.O.U.L. Antenatal Education Center!

By Andrea Koris

Operations, Monitoring and Eval. Officer

It’s 9:00am on Monday morning. I start down the red dirt path to the S.O.U.L. office, eyes to the ground in effort to keep my shoes reasonably dust-free. The twinkling of women’s laughter drifts through the banana trees to my ears. “What day is it?” I think to myself. As the answer hits me, I abandon my careful trek and tear off wildly towards the sound. I turn right at the sweet potato garden, scurry down the trail between the maize fields, and with a flourishing swipe of the matooke fronds in my path, I land among the most beautiful sight: 60 Ugandan women, bedecked in their brightest kitenge, patiently awaiting for the opening of the S.O.U.L. Antenatal Education Center.

Today is not just any other Monday in the sleepy town of Bujagali where S.O.U.L. is located; it is the official opening of S.O.U.L. Foundation’s Maternal Health Network. It’s a labor of love that has gestated and grown over the years. The idea of building a program to address rural maternal health issues in this region, originally conceived around a table between S.O.U.L. and community leaders, has been tended to with collaborative care ever since. And as I walk into the S.O.U.L. schoolyard this morning, wading through the women’s excited hugs and morning greetings, the love and hard work of everyone who molded the foundations of this program is abundantly evident.

 

In the past 5 years, substantial progress has been made across the world to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); and while significant improvements have been made on accounts to global health and education, progress is far from sufficient in regards to global maternal and infant mortality rates. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a result demand a more exacting requirement of the global community, to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030.

 

Here in Uganda, 360 women die per 100,000 live births. And that statistic only accounts for women who decide to give birth in public health facilities. Considering that only 42% of births in Uganda are attended to by a qualified health professional, maternal morbidity statistics fall short in capturing mortality rates and health indicators for women and newborns who cannot access public care. S.O.U.L. wanted to know how this overwhelming statistic played out in the lives of the mamas that make up the lifeblood of our beneficiary communities, many of whom decide to deliver with Traditional Birthing Attendants instead of qualified midwives. To answer these questions, S.O.U.L. conducted a year long research assessment investigating the barriers that influence women’s maternal health choices and behaviors, and the challenges government health workers face in trying to provide quality care in rural settings.

 

The Maternal Health Network is a result of the findings of this groundbreaking research. The program houses several interventions, each of which attack a different ‘delay’ that contributes to maternal mortality in rural settings: 1) Delay in decision to seek care; 2) Delay in reaching care; and 3) Delay in receiving adequate health care at facility. The Antenatal Education Center, housed within the Maternal Health Network, aims to reduce maternal mortality by disseminating Safe Motherhood and Birth Preparedness education and encouraging male involvement in maternal health for women and their male partners.

 

As I follow the line of mamas into the sunny colored classroom, being pulled along in the tide of excitement, I can’t help but feel a wellspring of joy. The opportunity to walk with the women and men of this community as they invest in their right for health for themselves and their families is a gift; to witness the birth of this program, a blessing; and to be part of its creation, the highest honor.

Bridging the technology gap

Blog writer and S.O.U.L. Project Manager Kerry Ginsburg

by Kerry Ginsburg
S.O.U.L. Foundation Project Manager

In today's market, technology is a driving force. Everywhere you go, people are connected. Not just in the Western markets, even in a developing country, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get a job without even the basic computer skills. The technology field is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide and as we are educating our students through to university level there is still a educational gap between them and their urban counterparts in the way of computer skills. Through strategic partnerships with local schools, S.O.U.L. Foundation is aiming to change and bridge that gap.

When I came to Bujagali Falls a year and a half ago, I partnered with an engineer at home and brought 10 Raspberry Pi computers to the Trinity School. Last week I was able to visit the lab and access the computers and progress that has been made since implementing. I am happy to report that all 10 computers are working great and teaching 20 + students a class, twice a week! Partnerships with the Trinity School are perfect examples on how S.O.U.L.s mission works. In exchange for each computer we donated, several students were sponsored by the school. Thus giving 20 students access to education and also a computer lab daily. S.O.U.L. focuses on partnerships and this is a successful example of that statement.

Close to two years ago, S.O.U.L.'s Solar Engineering team fundraised and built a solar computer lab at their village headquarters that aims to educate the local community as well as partner with schools in the nearby villages without access to computers, to educate students who would otherwise not have the ability to gain these valuable skills.

Currently, the S.O.U.L. computer lab teaches close to 80 students a week basic computer skills necessary to give them the same competitive edge as their peers, who are fortunate enough to have access to computers in their schools or home. Through a fundraiser I organized last year and the help from all the donors, I am fortunate to see the beginning stages of this amazing initiative. Over the last 3 months, S.O.U.L. has partnered with their first school as a trial to bring students to the lab twice a week over the course of 3 months to the S.O.U.L. headquarters. Having just met with the school, the success of the trial was immense, benefiting the school and the students, they are excited to continue the program. As we move forward, in the coming weeks, we will be focusing on finding new schools to partner with and provide the same benefits to the school and children.

While we are working on giving each child an equal opportunity, educating them is not enough. We must give them the necessary skills to thrive in continuing education and the workplace. S.O.U.L. Foundation along with our committed staff are doing an amazing job at bridging the gap and empowering future generations to become more educated in several different areas. I am excited to see the continued progress, partnerships and help bring technology expertise to the field in the next seven months.

Let's talk about sex

by Devin Faris
S.O.U.L. Foundation Global Health Corps Fellow

“S…E…X…” I read the letters aloud as I scrawl them across the poster paper taped to the wall behind me, and the room erupts with a cacophony of laughter.

I am standing in S.O.U.L. Foundation’s weekly Youth Mentorship Programme, which brings university and secondary student leaders together with younger students, providing them with a safe space to discuss their goals, challenges and ideas with their peers. Today, my co-fellow and I are taking on something that has never been done at S.O.U.L. before: we are talking about sex.

The laughter is to be expected. Placed with a women’s empowerment organization, my co-fellow and I recognize the pressing need to engage youth, particularly males, in constructive discussions about sex and gender relations. Yet in my six months in Uganda, I have never heard the topic of sex broached in conversation without the concomitant meltdown into youthful giggling or boisterous laughter, no matter the age group, which makes constructive dialogue a bit of a challenge. But we press on.

We start our mentorship session by asking everyone to write down what “sex” means to them and why it is important to talk about, followed by asking them why it is always met with laughter. They say that there is never a circumstance where they can talk about it in a group, that it is uncomfortable and awkward so they cannot help but laugh. As one frustrated student later informs me, “no one talks to us about sex…not our mothers, our fathers, no one. We only learn about sex in school…even at school the female teachers tell us it is not our mothers who should be talking to us about sex, that it is not their job.”

I think back to elementary school in America. I remember watching sex-ed videos in my 5th grade classroom, giggling with friends to animated dramatizations of male puberty. The group of 16 promising students under S.O.U.L. Foundation’s education bursary program sitting in front of us say they have learned about it in their classes – about HIV, about STDs and the risk of pregnancy – but in this district it is hardly, if ever, discussed beyond designated sexual education sessions moderated by a local NGO once per semester.

I am quickly reminded that sex is often a very uncomfortable conversation topic for most. Perhaps that is why at a meeting I attended recently that convened local health policymakers and religious leaders, that same laughter was omnipresent as we spent hours discussing why Uganda’s Busoga region boasts the highest rate of teen pregnancy in Uganda (30.6%). Religious leaders blamed moral decay in Uganda fueled by social media; some public officials cited the absurd belief that women’s provocative clothing “forces men to want to have sex with them.” I viewed some opinions with disbelief, others with genuine interest, but I left the meeting feeling that something quintessential was still left out: the lack of opportunities for safe and open dialogue about sex for youth around the world.

My mind returns to the open dialogue that is happening right in front of me, and through the smiles and laughter, these teenagers are really engaging in this issue. Though, I am troubled when that laughter fails to subside once the issue of sexual consent is brought up.

“Let’s say a boy and a girl meet at a party, and the boy wants to play sex but the girl does not. The girl says no. Should the boy and the girl both have the same power to make the decision about whether they play sex? Raise your hand if you think they should.”

My question is met with smirks, silence, and a room devoid of raised hands. I repeat the question. A few hands rise into the air. A few boys laugh and shake their heads, and the heads of the other girls are bowed in what appears to be an amalgamation of embarrassment, uncertainty, and fear. I probe for explanations. One boy claims that the decision making power is not equal, that if the girl says no, God has given men and boys the power to convince her that it is a good idea. Other boys echo this sentiment. The girls are silent.

We break into small groups and discuss the same scenario, thinking through the decision making process for both parties. I find myself having to remind one bright young man, “if a girl says no, it means NO.” I repeat the mantra, and the unabashed confidence and wry smile with which he answered the question turns to a look suggesting he is considering my words as a novel truth. We drive this point home to everyone and dismiss them, hoping the dialogue continues beyond the session. Suddenly, their continuing laughter is actually encouraging.

GHC is my first professional opportunity to research and advocate for women’s issues, from maternal health, to preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV, to working to prevent sexual and gender-based violence through discussions such as this.

We must commit ourselves to involving males in the global discussion about women’s rights, sexual and reproductive rights, and about treating women with basic respect. Without involving males in these conversations, men who have been raised to believe that they have more power to make decisions than women will always view gender relations in a detrimentally one-sided manner, potentially acting upon archaic norms in ways that harm women. Without frank and open dialogue, the pandemic of violence against women will never end.

Let’s talk about the things that make us laugh, things that make us cry, things that make us afraid. Let’s talk about the things that make us cringe, things that make us uncomfortable, things that make us question what we believe, and things that make us question who we are. Let’s talk about the things that divide us, and let’s talk about the things that bring us together.

Let’s talk about sex. If we don’t, there will be far too many lessons learned the hard way for far too many youth in this world, and for far too long.