NEWS!
MOMS is making a difference - and you make that possible!
We just heard the Ministry of Health was interested in the sudden and significant improvement in maternal health in the Pellie area. After researching the situation, they concluded that MOMS TBAs are providing much better care than ever before! They (and we!) are very pleased with these results.
The Chief Health Officer of the Pellie clinic sent this message:
Pellie TBAs have set a record in the entire country by having excellent record of safe deliveries with out any fatality or complications which is mainly due to the excellent training of you our International Team; this excellent record attracted the special attention of the District Medical Officer (DMO) and his team in the district Headquarters of Kailahun as well as officers of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation who decided to investigate the reasons for this great success. Eventually, they concluded that the high success rate is due to the exceptional training of you [Chris McManus], Trish [Ross} and the rest of your team....
We are very clear that we cannot do this work without your support. This is your success, too.
We have tickets!
Our trip this summer will be from July 27 to September 2, 2009. We are so excited about this trip, personally. Rather than working with a new cohort (which is always fund, but is hard work), we will be spending time with our existing MOMS TBAs. We have MOMS TBA teams in three areas, centered in Pellie, Jokibu, and Daru. There are 135 women from 37 villages. We will train on advanced topics, conduct some further needs assessments, and spend time with them.
We’ll be taking lots of Mama/Baby packets and new training materials along with items for the TBA kits. See our Helping MOMS page.
Friends of Sierra Leone conference
Chris McManus, Board President, and Trish Ross, Board Secretary, will attend the conference hosted by Jeff Hall and the Sierra Leone-Plymouth Partnership in Minneapolis over the weekend of July 4th. We’re excited about meeting others committed to the people of Sierra Leone.
Board President receives Regional Award from Soroptomists!!
The El Cerrito chapter of the Soroptimists International nominated Chris McManus for their “Making a Difference for Women” award for her work with MOMS. We won at the regional level, as well. Thank you, Soroptimists!
The potential in Sierra Leone is so great, and we’ve figured out some very successful ways to meet the needs. Now, we just need resources - volunteer teachers and the money to field them.
Do you want to be part of this success?
Can you...
- join us as a teacher? Check out our Volunteer page.
- donate? It’s tax deductible! Click the Donate button and use your PayPal account or a credit card.
- give newborn layette items or teaching aids? See our Support MOMS section for more information.
Chris McManus is being dressed by the Jokibu TBAs
in a shirt and hat befitting her status as an elder. 
Volunteers!
Our need for volunteers is growing quickly. Beginning January 2010, we’d like to take 4-5 volunteers along with the core team. We’d like two of these to be midwives or labor/delivery nurses.
All volunteers for teaching need proven skills in the areas they will teach and all must be effective teachers. So if you are a lactation consultant, doula, family planning counselor, or have other experience with women’s reproductive health, consider joining us. If you have knowledge of international development, we also need your expertise! And you midwives (CPM and CNM) and L&D nurses, get in touch with us!
For more info about volunteering, check out the Volunteer page.
MOMS is...
A non-profit organization whose purpose is to improve maternal/child health and maternity outcomes through education and service.
- Our focus is on women around the world who lack access to adequate maternity care.
- We train women to be community health workers and change agents, teaching them basic health and maternal-care practices.
