Our Focus Areas
Mother's Heart Uganda focuses on 5 key areas:
1. Safe Motherhood
2. Formal education
3. Nutrition and hygiene
4. Rehabilitation of children with disabilities
5. HIV / AIDS awareness
Our Initiatives
When beginning in 2016, Mother's Heart Uganda held community meetings to discuss the findings of the research. The community specifically emphasized the need for access to a health facility and school which were not currently available in this remote area. Our initiatives are a result of the conclusions the community made, which are as follows:
Primary School - Golden Hill Academy
In 2016 Mother's Heart Uganda set out to develop Golden Hill Nursery and Primary School to serve the children and families of Mutoto.
Currently 302 children are enrolled to attend from ages 3 - 14 which is approximately 20% of the total number of children in the community.
The construction and running of the school has become the main focus for the Mother's Heart Uganda team as we take the education of our children seriously.
You can read more about the school on our Golden Hill Academy page here.
Classes in Employable Skills for Women
Studies have shown that when women are economically empowered, their families tend to be healthier and more educated. Thus we have started two free job training classes in tailoring and hairdressing so that women gain skills to start working in these professions.
Tailoring Class
This is a once a week course that will occur over six months starting from September 2018. Tailoring classes are held every Saturday from 2 pm - 6 pm. Attendance has been high, with 40 women regularly coming. Curriculum covers taking measurements, transforming measurements to cuts on a cloth, and learning patterns of boys school uniform, girls school uniform, a dress shirt, trousers and a woman's dress.
Hairdressing Class
This is a month-long course that occurs during the long holiday. The class meets Mon - Fri from 2 pm - 5 pm every day for the entire month of January 2019. Attendance has been near 100% for a mostly young group of 33 women. Curriculum involves second twists, third twists, weaves and pencil.
Health Meetings
At least once a month, we move throughout the village holding community meetings about certain health topics. Past topics have included the importance of regular antenatal care visits, giving birth from the hospital, safe sex in regards to HIV/AIDS prevention and the use of family planning for spacing pregnancies. We teach women to identify the danger signs during pregnancy so that they are able to make a quick decision to go to the hospital for emergency.
Computer Classes
At Mother's Heart Uganda, we teach a practical computer course every Sunday from 3 pm - 6 pm all throughout the year. Students practice using the mouse, typing, navigating the file system and accessing the internet. They also learn to use programs like Word, Powerpoint, Excel and Virtual DJ.
Youth Group Meetings
Once a week we host youth group meetings designed to provide support with issues that come with adolescence. They are open to all youth, but occasionally separate meetings are held for girls to discuss issues specific to them.
Past topics include staying in school, achieving one's goals, dealing with a boyfriend/girlfriend, teen pregnancy, safe sex, HIV/AIDS awareness and safe menstruation.
Building a Community Hospital
We are in the process of constructing a hospital located in the heart of Mutoto village. This commitment has stalled due to a lack of funds.
Water for the Community
We are currently looking for funding so we can have a clean, reliable water source at our location. This means the installation of piped water to the school and a back-up rainwater tank in addition to a water tap everyone in the community can use. This is especially essential since we are located at the top of a hill making the daily task of carrying water strenuous. We also use at least 30 litres a day when making porridge for the children in the school. We cannot feed the children days we run out of water. With clean piped water, we can also begin teaching students proper hygiene techniques such as hand washing.