Enable 50 Women in Angola to Generate Income

Hope For Our Sisters, Inc. is happy to provide our third impact report on the project that you have so generously helped fund through GlobalGiving. As you may recall, we began this project in order to support our partners at the CEML hospital in Lubango, Angola, as they empower women recovering from fistula surgery with craft skills, gardening lessons, literacy/numeracy education, and teaching in local languages. Many women who have suffered from fistula have been abandoned by their husbands and families, and are unable to return to their villages and pick up life as it was. Left to provide for themselves in a context that is so different from the life they expected, many women are deeply disadvantaged because of their lack of formal education and skills training.

Our partners reported that despite COVID-based travel restrictions that have kept women from receiving the care they so desire, there is still activity at the hospital. About thirty patients are there as of this week in September, with eight having recently been discharged to go home - HEALED! All fistula patients are eligible to participate in the Aftercare program. In the sewing classes held as of late, the women have been learning to make masks. Pictured below is Ina, a CEML staff member, working with former patient Louelle, as they show others how to use the sewing machine. This is important for several reasons: 

• Women are learning a way to protect themselves and others from coronavirus in a country with few resources to fight the disease among those who become ill 
• Women are obtaining a marketable skill that will help to provide them with income if they choose to sell the masks
• Women are seeing their inherent value, feeling confident in their ability to be taught something new 

This would not be possible without your generous investment for our Aftercare program. We are so thankful to be able to come alongside our sisters as they strive for knowledge that will improve their lives, those of their communities, and the generations coming behind them. We will continue to send quarterly updates on the status of this project, and share photos and individual patient stories as able. Please spread the word if you know someone who might be interested in supporting this endeavor, and follow along on our social media pages (Facebook: Hope For Our Sisters, Inc. // Instagram: brookehfos) to learn more about our sisters, our partners and our mission. 

Best,

Cara Brooks

HFOS Board of Directors Member

Links:

• HFOS Homepage
• HFOS Empowerment Page