African women — Ethnic Supplies

African women’s reproductive health

March 11, 2011 By idahorner 1 Comment

January and February were emotionally hard months. I left Uganda and headed back to UK.

The day I arrived I got a phone call from home telling me that my cousin Doreen was seriously ill in a Ugandan hospital and the prognosis was not good and the next call I got was to tell me that Doreen was dead.

Doreen

Doreen (R.I.P) had miscarried her baby and having been discharged from hospital she became very ill and had to return for a check up. She had an infection that had not been picked up and by the time they did it was too late. There was very little they could do for her.

A few weeks later just as I was getting used to that news I got a call from a friend here in the UK, she had had her baby prematurely by C section as the Doctors had realized that if she carried the baby full term it would be detrimental to her health, her baby was OK. The baby a girl suffered some complications and died 12 days later.

2 weeks into February and I get a phone call from my sister in London, my niece had been taken into hospital. She was about to miscarry her babies and 48 hours later she did. she was expecting twins. The last one had to be taken out because not doing so would compromise her health as she had lost a lot of blood and perhaps cause complications for her in future.

As you can see these were difficult months to get through and you are probably wondering WHY I am sharing these rather personal experiences with you-

It is all about the disparity in services when it comes to AFRICAN WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

All of the women mentioned here are Ugandan two live in the UK but Doreen lived in Uganda. I have since asked myself the question what would have happened if the other two women lived in Uganda too?

On Tuesday 8 March 2011 we celebrated 100 years of International Women’s Day I used the opportunity to both celebrate the lives of women that are behind lovely products here at Ethnic Supplies but also to reflect on the how things have changed for women in Uganda/Africa and I concluded that there is still a lot of work to do and I think that the personal story I started this post with demonstrates that in as far getting reproductive health for African women right is concerned.

Goal Number 5 of the the Millennium Development Goals is all about Reproductive health/maternal health. As I look back on the past two months I have to wonder how many more Doreens will lose their lives before things improve for women in Africa so that they can have access to the care and expertise that the other other two women living in the UK had. Yes I understand that it took Britain 100 years or so to get Maternal health right for women here but the disparity in care for women in Africa lives me with a sense of hopelessness.

With nurses and mid-wives leaving the continent for a better life/working conditions elsewhere what hope is there for real development of services to improve reproductive health for African women?

Filed Under: African women, HEALTH Tagged With: Africa, INTERANTIONAL WOMENS DAY, International Women's Day, MATERNAL HEALTH, MDGs, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, Uganda

And it all started on ecademy

April 16, 2010 By Ida "ethical gifts" Horner's blog at Ecademy Leave a Comment

I can't remember when or how I connect with Gerd but before long we were talking baskets the ones that house dogs to be exact. Gerd is a Vet based in Naarden in The Netherlands. He had been thinking about adding hand made baskets for cats and dogs, as well as dog collars as part of his offering in his practice when I turned up. I didn't have these at Ethnic Supplies but as luck would have it I was on my way out to Rwanda so I was confident that I could help. The dog collars arrived, and although the women had done a great job , they were not suitable for what Gerd had in mind. The samples were free but being a generous soul Gerd donated £50 to the charity LTHT . This is still on drawing board. I got to Rwanda and presented the idea to the KIAKA co-op. They got to work and before I knew it the Rwanda government had sent me two large boxes containing samples of the baskets. I was faced with a new dilemma how was I going to get the baskets to the Netherlands? I called Gerd and told him about the baskets, next thing I knew I had the tallest Dutch men I had ever seen were standing in my living room one Saturday afternoon:-) Gerd and his friend had come to collect the baskets! Gerd was so impressed with the women's work that he has since placed an order for 40 of these baskets he has also become interested in the idea of helping African women help themselves out of poverty through trade and not AID What started as a random connection as far as I could see has produced some amazing results, I have gained a new friend both for the women I work with as well as for myself, a new customer as well as a whole new market that I previously had no access to. That almost sounds too god to be true but then that really is the value of networking you just never know where it will lead you!

Filed Under: African women, Poverty in Africa Tagged With: African baskets, pets, Rwanda

Should Women in Africa care about International Women’s day?

March 8, 2010 By ethnicsupplies Leave a Comment

It is I nternational Women’s Day a day to celebrate women’s achievements. This year’s theme is equal rights, equal opportunities and progress for all.

Very good I say but the cynic in me can’t help but ask what this really means for women in Africa especially the poorest in African communities?

Late last year I was introduced to a group of internally displaced refugees from Northern Uganda, that have become known as the Women Of Kireka (WOK). These women fled the war in Northern Uganda and ended up on a quarry in Kireka a suburb of Uganda. I had the opportunity to meet these women after a chance meeting with @tmsruge on twitter. Find out how that went on this short video clip.

A lot has happened to improve equal right and equality of opportunity for women and one could say that we are almost there. But what can be done for women in Africa? is it right that women should pass their days working on a quarry to feed their children?

The women know this is no way to earn living and are fighting back by making hand made jewellery from paperbeads.

http://projectdiaspora.org/2010/01/23/women-of-kireka-jewelry-shoot-in-kampala-uganda/

If equality of opportunity and progress for all are to be experienced by all then we should all be doing our bit to end the unfair situations that women such as the WOK find themselves in.

I do wonder sometimes whether we are fighting a losing battle. Strange thing to say I know, following that visit to the quarry Teddy, Kayongo and I were at a diaspora conference in Kampala. I was shocked to hear one of the politicians dismiss our efforts to extend equality of opportunity to these women. If current and aspiring politicians do not acknowledge the existence of these women ans their circumstances, can they realistically hope to ever have a better life for themselves and their children?

When will those rights that women fought for all those years ago on the first ever International Women’s Day be felt by the Women of Kireka in Uganda?

Have you got a view? Then let’s here ?

Filed Under: African women, Poverty in Africa Tagged With: Africa, ethnic supplies, Internation women's day IWD, Proejct Diaspora, project diaspora, Uganda, women of Kireka