We’re so excited that this October Mothers’ Union will, for the first time, be a sponsor of Prisons Week. We’ll have the opportunity to share more about the valuable work that Mothers’ Union members do across the spectrum of need around prisons and to ask churches to pray for prisoners, their families, prison staff, victims of crime and all those in the justice system.
In October 2019 members in Melanesia celebrated 100 years of Mothers’ Union. The celebrations, attended by approximately 2000 members was hosted by the Province at Saint Barnabas Provincial Cathedral. Starting with a Eucharist Service let by the Archbishop of Melanesia, the Right Rev Leonard Dawea who along with the Governor General challenged all members to be agents of change in their homes and communities, and to do the social policy work pioneered by Mary Sumner.
Mothers’ Union members work with prisoners and their families, helping them to stay together during the toughest times. This support includes literacy training and parenting education. In the UK, members run family support days and crèches in visitor centres, provide books so prisoners and their young relatives can share positive experiences, at Christmas they send Christmas cards to prisoners and gifts to their children.
The Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCISS), signed by the government, the opposition and civil society on September 12, 2018 in Addis Ababa has been seen as a renewed opportunity to ensure peace prevails.
https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southsudan/overview
Ethiopia is one of largest countries in Sub Saharan Africa with a population of over 105 million people. It is also one of the poorest countries in the world, ranked 173 out of 189 on the UN’s 2018 Multi-dimensional poverty index.
Many of us will be aware that conflicts can occur in marriages, families, workplaces, friendships, communities and societies and Mothers' Union is looking at how our members, predominantly women, can support peace and reconciliation in these situations.
As Mothers’ Union members search within their communities to see where their support and work is most needed the plight of orphaned children is often one of the areas in which they will look to offer their support and care. This can be demonstrated in many ways from donating clothes, to funding education and even to running orphanages. Many Mothers’ Union groups across the world will consider the care of orphans to be a core part of their work.
The ‘Vicoba’ programme merges two approaches (Church and Community Mobilisation (CCM) with Village Savings and Loans (VSL) groups) which aim to support churches and dioceses in mobilising their own resources to bring change from within their communities. The first year of the programme was a huge success with savings group members across 13 dioceses saving over £32,000, some of which has helped to pay for church improvements and community initiatives.
The worst affected areas are the Diocese of Lebombo, Mozambique, the Diocese of Southern Malawi, Malawi, and the Dioceses of Manicaland and Masvingo, Zimbabwe.
