You Funded It! Q1 Impact 2021
You Funded It
“This outward spring and garden are a reflection of the inward garden.” –Rumi
As we report on the impact of your donations in the first quarter of 2021, we’d like to celebrate the true source of “this outward spring”—the generous hearts of you, our community of donors.
Your donations this quarter went to several organizations that support women to have healthy births—a fitting way to celebrate new life in springtime!
We gave $5,000 to the Edna Adan Hospital, our celebrated project partner in Somaliland. The grant will support Edna’s dream to train 1,000 midwives. Community midwives in Somaliland typically assist between 150 and 400 births per year, so training one midwife can improve outcomes for 6,000 or more mothers over the course of her career. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving!
Here in our hometown of Austin, Texas, we gave the second $2,500 installment to help one of Black Mamas ATX’s Sister Doulas get her advanced certification training. Aphrica is working hard toward her dream of becoming a birth assistant and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She is currently completing her IBCLC classes (anatomy and physiology, anyone?), and she plans to take the exam this fall. Aphrica is also working under the care of a midwife, and she attended her first birth this year! You may have heard the grim statistic that Black mothers in the United States are three times as likely to die from maternity-related complications as white women. But you can feel good knowing that you are helping improve outcomes by supporting wonderful women who support Black mothers before, during, and after birth.
Scholarships for girls plant seeds of success! So we’re pleased to report that thanks to your recent donations of $6,750 this quarter, including support from Human Act, we provided monthly scholarships for:
- 62 girls in Bangladesh, 5 of them in partnership with the award-winning JAAGO Foundation
- 70 girls in DR Congo
- 46 children who live in Hazera’s House, a group home in Dhaka
Education is a lifeline for girls, especially during COVID-19, when some 2.5 million girls are at risk of child marriage and early pregnancy. “Education allows me to know how to defend my rights and the rights of others,” says Ushindi Jawadin Doros, a ConnectHER scholarship recipient in DR Congo. Other girls—who without these scholarships would be at risk of dropping out due to their families' financial challenges—hope to become teachers, doctors, and police officers. Thank you for planting the seeds that will help make their dreams come true!
