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