Gender Equality Sudan Project #31993

Help Mothers and Girls Earn a Brighter Future

by Kids for Kids

Project Report | Mar 9, 2022
Empowering Mothers and Girls through Midwifery Training

By Charlotte Allum | Fundraising and Outreach Coordinator

Midwives in Training

On her first visit to Darfur, back in 2001, Patricia Parker OBE, Founder of Kids for Kids, remembers seeing the fear in the eyes of the young girls there.

"The young girls were absolutely terrified of childbirth. With no healthcare in the village, young mothers had to rely on a traditional birth attender. The birth attender would be an older lady, totally untrained in health care, who had survived childbirth. FGM is a common practise in Darfur. Obstructed labour is therefore not unusual. Without training the TBA would not know that the only hope would be to get the mother to hospital. Their only recourse was rope delivery. The vision of that is terrible. The mother is lucky to survive, but the baby almost invariably dies. . If they do go to hospital in the late stages of labour it was on the back of a donkey, or on a stretcher between two donkeys - can you imagine?!"

Something had to be done. Patricia realised that healthcare had to be provided in the villages themselves to prevent problems becoming catastrophies, to save both mothers' and babies' lives.

With your help, Kids for Kids has been training two Midwives in each of the villages we adopt. The difference these young women make to the health of the village is incalculable. Village midwives are chosen as being particularly upright, honest, hard-working, intelligent, young girls. Many of them will not have travelled from their village previously, so to travel to El Fasher for midwifery training is an honour. On graduation the girls are given a uniform - a white sari and leather sandals - such a huge status for these young girls! We also provide the Midwives with their equipment in tin boxes to keep the rats away. We also provide them with a strong cross-bred donkey and a donkey ambulance to transport mothers more speedily if needs be.

Our Midwives help with pre- and post-natal care, teaching mothers who are often malnourished themselves how to feed their babies. With goats' milk being the nearest thing to mother's milk, our goats play an important role in strengthening both mothers and babies.

Midwives also register the births - and indeed deaths - in each of our villages and, very importantly, discourage Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). We are delighted to say that infant mortality rates are now much lower in a Kids for KIds village, and FGM is a dying practice in our villages. All because of our wonderful Midwives.

Hala says that when she returned to her village as a Kids for Kids trained midwife there were great celebrations. She now looks after pregnant girls not just from her own village, but mothers travel many miles to ask her help. She is now one of the leaders of her village and is very proud that there are fewer orphans. She is listened to in Council meetings and takes great pride in standing up for the women of the village.

This year we are delighted to be adopting another FIVE villages - Hillat Sabil, Korla, Katonta, Kudeil & Hillat Um Gadeer - with 6,148 people in total. Please will you help us train Midwives in each of these villages to give the young girls there hope for the future, dissuade the practice of FGM and save mothers' and babies' lives!

Can you donate today? We really can't do it without you! Thank you for all your support.

Midwife with training baby

Midwife kit

Healthy mother and baby

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Nov 25, 2021
The story of Hawa and her family.

By Lily Campbell | Fundraiser and Outreach Coordinator

Goat loan is labelled as one of the key projects that support women and girls in Darfur. A goat provides an income, income gives women in rural Darfur villages freedom of choice and the ability to make decisions for their families for the first time ever.

The story of Hawa and her family are a prime example of how Kids for Kids use goat loan as a way to support women and children who are living in abject poverty. In our reports from Darfur, Hawa was listed as one of the poorest families in her village. After losing both her parents in 2004 and being the eldest of 3 sisters, it was Hawas duty to support her family. The report states that her home assets are poor, and she has hardly any kitchen equipment. Her family and her sister's families live in two small huts built from the straw stalks from their crop of millet.

Hawa's sister has two daughters and one son, all less than five years old, which she also cares for. Hawa also has her own children, three daughters, two of which are at school.

However, Hawa had managed to secure work as a farmer last year and during the summer seasons, she would work, collecting firewood for another family. During the rainy season, she worked at her farm in order to have money for daily family expenses. Unfortunately, the harvest was poor last year, which had a direct impact on Hawa and the people relying on her. She was left in a very difficult situation and approached the village leaders for support to feed the children.

Kids for Kids work to provide the poorest families in Darfur with the support they need helps them to get back on their feet and create a life for themselves where they can support their families. Our Goat loan provides a sustainable income to these desperately hard working young girls, and milk for the children.

Hawa was loaned 5 goats, to give the family hope to fight poverty. She no longer has to rely soley on on what she grows - which is so reliant on the weather conditions in Darfur. She now has direct access to goats milk for her and her children, so that they won't go hungry, and have a chance at a better life.

The women in Darfur deserve a chance to provide for their families. Kids for Kids tirelessly support the development of these women's futures. We first provided goat loans 20 years ago - and goats are still the answer! Such an unassuming creature can provide so much to a woman in Darfur. These women deserve a future, deserve a livelihood. Help us support our fellow women for the freedoms that we take for granted.

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Aug 5, 2021
After 20 Years, Goats continue to change the lives of women in Darfur!

By Lily Campbell | Fundraiser and Outreach Coordinator

As Kids for Kids celebrates its 20th Year of providing sustainable, grassroots aid to the communities of Darfur, Sudan, we reflect on how far those communities have come, and how Kids for Kids has grown.

To date, there are 106 Kids for Kids’ villages where children are no longer hungry, where water is close at hand, and where there is health care for both humans and animals. We listen to families in Darfur. We listen to their needs and provide exactly what they tell us will make the most difference long term.

Goat loan is labelled as one of the key projects that support the women and girls in these communities. A goat provides an income, income gives women in rural Darfur villages freedom of choice and the ability to make decisions for their families for the first time ever. Almost invariably village leaders are men. Our sustainable projects give women a voice in their communities. Even owning a simple blanket is seen as owning 'household assets'. If you have household assets then you are listened to in meetings. "I have seen our blankets hung on the outside of the huts, not to air, but to show the mother owns something valuable" says Patricia Parker OBE, Founder of Kids for Kids. "To me this is graphic evidence of the poverty of the families we help - and how much they need us."

Goat’s milk stops children from being malnourished, and a mother can sell surplus milk and yoghurt at the market to earn what is often her first-ever income. Five nanny goats are lent to each beneficiary family in a village, and a billy goat is shared between every three families. After 2 years each family passes on five firstborn offspring to another family in need. This system, designed and coordinated by the villagers themselves, allows women autonomy over their own lives.

I am so hopeful you will continue to support this project. The change you are helping us to create is beyond anything you can imagine. Even the smallest amount will go so far in Darfur, where women have so little. The families we help are some of the most deprived in the world and have never received any help at all. By empowering women to take control of their own lives we are helping them to create a better future for generations to come. The villages we have adopted for the coming months told us they had never ever had visitors - ever. They are so isolated.

Support our project to help provide women and girls with a better future. After 20 years, goats are still the answer! Such an unassuming creature can provide so much to a woman in Darfur. These women deserve a future, deserve a livelihood. Help us support our fellow women for the freedoms that we take for granted!

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