An update on the Christmas Appeal 2022

We have raised over £106,100

Thank you to all our members and friends who generously donated towards the 2022 Christmas Appeal. Once again, we were part of the Big Give campaign, where donations made on that platform were doubled. Through your help, Mothers’ Union has raised over £106,100 for vital projects in South Sudan. The generous donations will be used to run our Literacy and Trauma Healing programme in 48 communities across South Sudan over the next two years.

What are these programmes and how are they run?

The key to effective functional adult literacy programmes is the participatory approach using interactive bible studies and learning activities. Each of the literacy circles contains up to 30 participants and are led by community volunteers trained by Mothers’ Union. The MU facilitators use participatory tools to initiate discussion and help bring out the knowledge and skills of the participants, as well as challenge some of the cultural norms whilst learning the alphabet of their local language and gradually learning to read and write.

This approach enables each literacy circle to become a safe place where all participants feel secure and trust each other to share deep and important issues affecting their lives including topics such as, gender-based violence, women’s rights, understanding of traditional practices, health, hygiene and household responsibilities. It enables women to use their voice, often for the first time and speak up freely, helping to promote female leadership.

This programme also encourages participants to share their experiences of violence, and with the help of their facilitator, take part in trauma healing exercises to help them begin to heal. Already around 70% of participants in the literacy circles feel they now have coping mechanisms as well as being involved in advocacy activities for peace in their communities. This is compared to around 45% participations in other similar programmes.

'I used to feel terrible, went to the doctors and they didn’t know what was wrong with me. I had to take Panadol all the time to help me feel a bit better. But since hearing from the GBV Officers that what I’m experiencing might be trauma, this has really helped me to understand that I’m not going mad and that there is a reason for feeling like this.

Participant in Juba diocese.

Thank you

Decades of civil unrest and violence have caused huge amounts of hurt and trauma for the South Sudanese people. The money raised during the Christmas Appeal 2022 will enable Mothers’ Union to continue to run these life changing programmes. Thank you for all your continued support helping communities around the world.

Photo Credit: Taking Pictures, Changing Lives Foundation