Uganda-Bound and Celebrating All We Have Accomplished!
If you have been following what my team and I been up to as of late, you probably know, it’s a lot. Here’s updates for you, OneMama family, on my trip to Uganda, the United Nations, New York Fashion Week, and Fighting For Your JOY!
United Nations 59th Commission on the Status of Women
In March of this year, I attended the United Nation’s 59th Commission on the Status of Women as a delegate. The aim of this year’s event was to enact social change in equality for women all over the world by giving women a voice on a global stage. I went to the UN excited for the opportunity for our tiny village in rural Uganda, to have its voice heard. The women of our OneMama Community, for the first time ever, had a channel to voice their frustrations as females in a paternalist society. In Uganda, women are an underrepresented group of the population and their voices oftentimes silenced. I asked the women of our village to choose one issue they would like to highlight at the United Nations. The issue they chose was land rights for women and child custody. In Uganda, it is nearly impossible for women to own property, forming a base of female dependency on males in society.
During regional discussions to select the top issues the United Nations would highlight for the Declaration of the Rights of Women this following year, I voiced the OneMama community’s issue… and it was chosen as the top three issues to be included in the amendment!
OneMama’s voice was heard on a global stage!
To focus our programs on the issue of women’s land rights, OneMama is thrilled to announce a partnership with Women’s Intercultural Network (WIN)! With WIN’s support, OneMama will advocate for women as land-owning participants in a special WIN project in Uganda.
February and September New York Fashion Week
OneMama.org and natural cosmetics partner, ShaBoom Products, participated in not one but TWO fashion weeks this year! Most recently, The OneMama Couture Collection premiered this September at New York Fashion Week. Our striking, bold, designs strutted the runway, showing how socially conscious fashion can literally save lives! Each look featured in our fashion shows saved anywhere from 200 to 500 lives.
Since the whirlwind of New York Fashion Week, we are in talks with top buyers in the industry for collaborations to bring fashions that support OneMama.org to international markets! Interested in our new designs? Read more about The OneMama Couture Collection at New York Fashion Week and pre-order our collection.
One component of this upcoming trip to Uganda will be building out the Economic Sustainability branch of The OneMama Model. We want to polish the core designs for The OneMama Collection, providing sustainable employment for the women of our community.
IMPACT Award, Flight 2 Freedom Summit 3.0,
This year has been all about overcoming the challenges–no matter how big or small–that seem to arise at the most inconvenient times… and celebrating that! I was was honored this July to be awarded the F2F3 IMPACT Award by my dear friend, Adryenn Ashley at the Blossom Wealth Management Flight 2 Freedom Summit 3.0 of outstanding female entrepreneurs. This award symbolizes what believing in our own joy and the joy of others can accomplish… and will continue to accomplish in this world.
A Lab for the OneMama Clinic
In addition to my normal meetings with the OneMama community, partners, government officials, and staff, we will also be kicking off development of a new initiative: a lab for The OneMama Clinic.
Currently, our clinic offers some of the only medical care and maternal health services in an expansive, rural region. While we do have access to rapid testing methods for HIV, we do not have access to a full lab to perform more advanced, accurate testing. Building a lab in for The OneMama Clinic can transform the way we assess and treat patients while simultaneously expand the number of patients our clinic treats each year. As a medical center that supports other clinics in the region, we want to expand our testing services to best serve our communities!
Bags Packed For The Journey Ahead
Tomorrow, I fly out of San Francisco International to Entebbe International in Uganda with my ten bags! I’ll be bringing clothes and shoes donated by Resoled, yoga mats from friend Darin, and medical supplies for The OneMama Clinic and OneMama Birthing Center. Although it is exhausting to get ten bags from my doorstep to The OneMama Community, bringing life-saving equipment and resources to those surviving on less than $1.00 a day is 100% worth it.
How can you support us?
OneMama.org has grown leaps and bounds in the last year, not only in our programs on the ground, but also in our network of incredible OneMama Action Heroes across the world who help us fight for the joy of others! We cannot thank you enough for supporting us, and believing in the OneMama vision: a world in which every baby can be born into this world knowing they are loved and they matter. To bring this goal into fruition, we still need your help. Volunteer your time through working with us, donate to building a lab for the OneMama Clinic, or spread awareness of OneMama by sharing our posts through Facebook or Instagram with your network!
In addition to these channels for supporting OneMama.org, I am excited to announce that you can now support OneMama and fight for joy… with me! I will be launching the Fighting For Your Joy movement, that cultivates practices to fight for your own joy and the joy of others within our online community. Get a glimpse here of the NEW #FFYJ community.
Now… Let’s Fight For JOY!
The annual OneMama trip to Uganda is an emotional, reflective time for me. I look back on what we’ve accomplished in the last year and cannot help but smile. Each trip reunites me with my OneMama Community and my purpose to serve the mamas and babies of the world! Back to my healthy, energetic self, new partnerships in development, and with the love of my OneMama family…I could not be more ready for the next chapter! Now, let’s go fight for your joy!
