Shanti Uganda

10 Years of Volunteers: Volunteers Make our Impact Possible September 14, 2018September 14, 2018

 

 

Over 10 years we’ve welcomed 86 volunteers in Uganda and countless volunteers in Canada who have performed over 27,967 volunteer hours!

 

Interns in our program have executed communications, programs and monitoring and evaluation, and research. Our professional volunteer program has hosted dozens of volunteer midwives, supporting Shanti staff with daily operations at the Birth House. Other volunteers have worked on event planning and execution, fundraising, grant writing, graphic design, web design, bookkeeping, and administrative/office tasks. Volunteers help keep Shanti running.

Unlike other volunteer programs, our program is deeply rooted within the community we serve, looking to our community partners, clients, and Ugandan staff for direction on how best to improve health services for families in Uganda. Our volunteers and staff commit to working with no ego and put the voices of our Ugandan stakeholders at the forefront of everything we do.

10 Years of Doulas: Flora’s Love August 13, 2018August 16, 2018

 

Shanti loves doulas! We were founded by a doula, we work with doulas, and we spend one week every year collaborating with doulas during our training retreats. The work they do—the emotional and physical support they provide before, during and after birth—fits perfectly within Shanti’s holistic model of care, and their positive impact on empowering women through the birthing process is undeniable. That is why we dedicate this August to celebrating #10YearsofDoulas.

Propelling Motherhood: One Year Later August 3, 2018August 8, 2018

 

After a successful year of impact, our Propelling Motherhood Project has come to an end. We cannot thank our amazing Village Health Team members, boda drivers and support staff enough for their hard work and dedication to this project. We surpassed our original goal to serve 480 women—in the end reaching 496—making a total of 1,924 postnatal home visits to new moms.

#10YearsofDads – Fred’s Story June 13, 2018June 13, 2018

This Father’s Day, we want to share with you more about one of our favorite Shanti dads. Fred is the Field Coordinator and driver at Shanti Uganda, and more importantly, he is a fantastic story teller. His perspective, born of many career changes and embedded in recent Ugandan history, offers insight into some of the strengths and challenges of being a father, how to build strong relationships, and what it means to be proud of your family.

#10YearsOfMoms for Mother’s Day 2018 May 13, 2018June 13, 2018

At Shanti, we believe that #MomsMatter and have mothers at the foundation of our organization – that is why we so look forward to celebrating Mother’s Day each year with our community.

This year, as we celebrate #10YearsofImpact, we’ve decided to follow up on moms who have given birth at the Shanti Uganda Birth House, both recently and not-so-recently, to see how both mama and babe are doing. We hope you will enjoy this special series of stories in celebration of Mother’s Day 2018.

Story 1: Lillian & baby Collins

Sustainability at Shanti: Our Top 10 Photos April 11, 2018May 4, 2018

Sustainability and community are core values of ours at Shanti, and we are especially excited to be celebrating them during the month of April and Earth Day (Sunday, April 22nd). The fact that 2018 has us celebrating a milestone anniversary of #10YearsofImpact and #10YearsofSustainability makes this all the more special for us. It has been exciting to watch our community garden and nutrition program grow as we continuously work to develop our three primary areas of sustainability at Shanti: communal gardening, sustainable agricultural practices and workshops, and our solar powered birth house. Through these programs, we aim to provide nutrient-rich food for mothers, children, teens, and the wider community, as well as to provide nutrition and farming based educational programs in order to empower individuals and families to grow and cook healthy food, learn, and thrive. 

To celebrate sustainability this month, we decided to search through our photo archive and select some of our favourite photos representing sustainability at the Shanti Birth House in Uganda. We hope you enjoy!

 

A Heartfelt Welcome to María Wong March 6, 2018March 12, 2018

2018 is indeed a year of change and growth for Shanti Uganda – as we celebrate #10YearsofImpact we are experiencing a change of leadership, with our Founder Natalie stepping out of the Executive Director role and onto the Board of Directors to support our mission and vision from there. While all of our staff will dearly miss working with Natalie day-to-day, we are extremely excited to welcome María Wong as our new Executive Director.

 

Celebrating #10YearsofImpact February 13, 2018February 13, 2018

2018 is a special year for us here at Shanti – 10 years ago this year, we began our journey to serve women and families in Uganda. This anniversary has given us an opportunity to reflect on our growth, impact, and all that we have learned over the years. So much of what we have accomplished is because of the support we have received, and as a way of thanking you, we are delighted to start off our year-long celebration of #10YearsofImpact by sharing some of our impact and reflections with you!