Mpumudde is slightly thrown out of Jinja town approximately 3.1km away. Mpumudde is the poster child for prevalent vices like prostitution, drug abuse, and a vicious cycle of poverty. The same neighbourhood is where Hope for Women in Crisis (HOFWC) chose to set up a home for a project that targeted hopeless expecting teenagers.
We caught up with H4WC Founder, Lyzette Kasigwa, to talk about their upcoming event, The Walk of a Teenage Mother and her detailed tale about how HOFWC was born and what they do got us and a few other guests teary. Lyzette does what every ordinary person (you inclusive) shuns; taking care of disowned pregnant teenagers.
Lyzette started HOFWC back in 2011 when as an expecting mother she was admitted in the Jinja Regional Referral Hospital. Her private doctor had gone MIA and the immediate option was to have her baby in the JRRH. It’s a sad tale that she doesn’t want to relive but it’s during her time on admission that she witnessed the conditions that women without a penny went through to have their babies born here.
“Next to my bed was this woman who had just been brought from the theatre. She neither had anyone to fend for her, nor any immediate medication like pain killers. I felt bad and asked my caretaker to share my medication between us. I later on realised that most of the women were in the same situation. Since I could get private help, I asked my caretaker to share the medication between the woman next to me and the one across”, narrates Lyzette and she goes on to say that this went on till she was discharged.
It is while out there in prayer that her conscience pushed her to check on the women she had left in the hospital. She did this and it became routine for her. She would buy them medication, tend to them, give them assurance and counsel them. She is a trained Social Worker and this helped in this newfound passion. She did this with alot of enthusiasm to a point that she requested to work voluntarily in the labour ward.
Fast forward; she was allowed to work as a social worker and it is during her time at the hospital that she encountered an expecting teenage mother. It was a case of crime and the girl was the victim. Lyzette gave this girl her whole and it is after she had given birth that Lyzette realised there was more than met the eye; expecting teenage girls were everywhere! Some as young as 12 years!
This became a project for HOFWC and so far, a number of girls have gone through the home in Mpumudde. These girls are disowned by their families for being pregnant by crazy heartless men and what HOFWC does is take them in, prepare them to give birth, give them hands on life-skills, help them through the delivery process, rehabilitate them after they give birth, counsel them and prepare them for the outside world.
“This all requires money and so far, we are depending on our savings, little income from my mum and husband and a few good-hearted friends who appreciate the work we are doing. We get donors once in a while but it is not easy. The girls have to eat for them and the babies, they have to learn a thing or two to help them when they leave here… there’s a lot in caring for these girls,” narrated Lyzette.
When we caught up with Lyzette, she was rushing to Jinja Hospital to check on a girl who had given birth the previous night. The girl received the care that her family could have given her but shunned. We met the girl and she looked so strong. At 15years, her eyes showed that she as weak and exhausted but being strong was her only option at the time. In a heart breaking tale, we were told how when she regained consciousness, she thanked Lyzette who all the girls call mum for being there for her.
It is for this cause that Hope for Women in Crisis or HOFWC is organising an event, The Walk of a Teenage Mother, to raise funds for the home.
“All one has to do is buy a t-shirt and be a part of this. We have two t-shirt types; round necks and polo necks. The round neck goes for 25,000Ugx whereas the polo goes for 35,000Ugx. There are no registration fees. The walk will start at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital to Speke Courts” said Lyzette in her final call to The Walk of a Teenage Mother.
From us to you, please take time off your weekends out and do something that you will relive with passion. These girls are victims and all they need is a chance to live normally. They can’t get their lives back but you buying a t-shirt and being there on 27th August 2016 will surely give them hope to live on.
Hope For Women In Crisis is an NGO in Jinja providing for women facing crisis during the most miraculous experience of life;THE BIRTH OF A CHILD.
For how to get your t-shirt, get in touch with: Lyzette Kasigwa or Jerisha Skyler
