Enable 50 Women in Angola to Generate Income

The team at Hope For Our Sisters Inc., in partnership with the Aftercare team at CEML Hospital in Lubango, Angola, is pleased to bring you our latest impact report for our project to "Enable 50 Women in Angola to Generate Income". As always, we are so thankful for the support of each of you in bringing this program to our sisters who have suffered from fistula and are living at the patient villas in CEML, either awaiting or recovering from surgery. This program equips them with literacy, numeracy, and language classes and teaches them marketable skills such as gardening, sewing, and crafting that they can take forward into their lives outside of the hospital to support themselves and others in their families and communities. These women are able, and amazing, and so deserving of these opportunities. We cannot thank you enough for helping them to realize dreams to learn new things and become more self-sufficient. The growth of this program has also enabled it to become entirely self-sustaining - the sales of products made cover the costs of new materials for the subsequent projects!

Fifty-four women were served by the program over April, May and June. As of August, 33 women were staying in the patient village. The women participated in a variety of activities, including sewing projects, folder-making and community health classes. The folders are new! Sixty were produced for children from a partner church in the United States and 300 were made for the conference of the Evangelical Theological Institute of Lubango (ISTEL). The content of the community health classes, which centered on hygiene, disease prevention, and maternal care, empowers participants to become public health ambassadors in their communities, promoting information, dignity, and preventative practices among other women.

An inspiring story about a woman named Rosa was sent to us. Rosa underwent three surgeries – the first two in Bié and the third at CEML, where she was finally healed. Her unshakable faith was a great inspiration to all the other patients. During her time in the village, she composed many songs that brought strength to the group. She also became involved with a local Brethren church, whose members began regularly visiting other patients. Rosa is now an ambassador of the program, keeping in touch with the women even after leaving and continuing to impact their lives.

Her testimony remains a beacon of hope to the other patients and to all the lives she is touching through her sharing. 

Finally, the team shared these beautiful words of hope and gratitude:

“It is thanks to your generous support that we continue to walk in hope, restoring lives marked by obstetric fistula and restoring dignity to so many women in our village … The impact of this program goes far beyond physical recovery – it reaches the soul, self-worth, and sense of purpose of each woman … Our desire and prayer is that no woman in Angola will suffer from obstetric fistula, and we believe that with the joint efforts of partners, churches and the community, it is possible. Here in the village, we see the direct impact of your support every day—in smiles, dances, and tears of joy. We know you may not be physically here, but we are certain that this impact reaches your hearts through these reports and the photos we share. None of this would be possible without you. Your presence is felt in every moment of transformation we witness.”

We hope you are continuing to find inspiration in these reports every few months. Feedback and questions are always welcome via email, sent to Cara at cbrooks@hopeforoursisters.org. To learn more about Aftercare between reports, or our other programs, visit the link below to our website or follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook (Hope For Our Sisters, Inc.) or Instagram (@brookehfos). Thank you again for your generous support of this project and these precious women.

Links:

• HFOS Homepage

The team at Hope For Our Sisters Inc., in partnership with the Aftercare team at CEML Hospital in Lubango, Angola, is pleased to bring you our latest impact report for our project to "Enable 50 Women in Angola to Generate Income". As always, we are so thankful for the support of each of you in bringing this program to our sisters who have suffered from fistula and are living at the patient villas in CEML, either awaiting or recovering from surgery. This program equips them with literacy, numeracy, and language classes and teaches them marketable skills such as gardening, sewing, and crafting that they can take forward into their lives outside of the hospital to support themselves and others in their families and communities. These women are able, and amazing, and so deserving of these opportunities. We cannot thank you enough for helping them to realize dreams to learn new things and become more self-sufficient. The growth of this program has also enabled it to become entirely self-sustaining - the sales of products made cover the costs of new materials for the subsequent projects!

The team had several wonderful program updates to share with us. The first is the creation of a new product in Aftercare: colorful "hot pans", which are similar to trivets. The team made 30 of these, which were purchased by a nonprofit team as gifts for their loved ones in Canada. It is exciting that the women's work is now being seen and enjoyed in locations far away from them. 

However, one of the most important updates might be that of some very important visitors the team and the women in the Villa recently received in late March: the Provincial Director of Social Action, the Leader of Promaica, and the Police Commander. This group came to see the work being done at CEML in relation to fistula - from preventative efforts to treatment and empowerment, such as the Aftercare classes. The team reported, "They were very surprised by the results and the positive impact of our actions, and promised to return to help even more. These partnerships are essential, as they demonstrate the commitment of local authorities to support and expand care for women facing this difficult situation. The presence and interest of these important figures not only strengthens confidence in our actions, but also creates new opportunities for us to continue offering quality support."

Other news includes:

• The distribution of Manna Pack, a fortified rice and soy product that provides optimal nutrition for women and girls arriving underweight and malnourished. (This improves outcomes post-treatment.)
• The provision of "the Cycle of Life of a Woman" courses in March to the women with fistula in the village, including some of those accompanying the patients. Topics such as nutrition, the menstrual cycle, fetal development, complications of pregnancy and delivery, postpartum care of mom and baby were of great interest. The team wrote, "The sessions on forgiveness, relationships and dealing with trauma touched many deeply. There were tears as several shared their difficult experiences. One woman shared how she had been so desperate that she was about to jump from a bridge into the river, when someone came out of nowhere and pulled her back."
• A visiting physiotherapist from Portugal has been with the team for a month now. She is a specialist in pelvic exercises, which are extremely beneficial to women with urinary incontinence. She also teaches pelvic relaxation exercises, which are essential to women who have had several surgeries and suffered inevitable damage to their pelvic floor muscles. This can lead to discomfort, but her exercises will provide relief in time. She is teaching the staff in addition to the women, as she will return to Portugal in two weeks. 

We hope you are continuing to find inspiration in these reports every few months. Feedback and questions are always welcome via email, sent to Cara at cbrooks@hopeforoursisters.org. To learn more about Aftercare between reports, or our other programs, visit the link below to our website or follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook (Hope For Our Sisters, Inc.) or Instagram (@brookehfos). Thank you again for your generous support of this project and these precious women.