Welcome!
Welcome to Midwives on Missions of Service — MOMS. We make a difference in the lives of women who have fewest options.
Learn about what we do and why. How about our curriculum? Who is MOMS team? What other organizations do we work with? Do you need our official EIN to confirm our nonprofit status? What’s Sierra Leone like? A small photo album is here.
MOTORCYCLE!
MOMS has to pay $150 per day to rent an SUV that will get us where we must go. Often, though, only one or two people are traveling. So, we are going to buy a motorcycle! For less than $3000, we can buy the bike, helmets, rain gear, pump, and tool kit! The bike will pay for itself in a few months if our team travels weekly as we aim to do. The weekly visits support the relationships we work so hard to establish.
Motorcycles are actually easier to drive down the narrow paths in the rainforest that we use. They can get places that are inaccessible during the rainy season and can get all the way into remote villages where we often have to leave the vehicle to walk. So this is going to be a great cost savings but also a great boost to our efficiency. If you want to help, you sure can! Click Help MOMS and donate!
This old photo shows the start of a trek from a remote village into town.
Jitta Rogers Seisay (Training Manager), Christie McManus (MOMS President) and
Suleimon Koroma will all hold on tight.
STAFF!
We have extended an offer to Zainab Massaquoi to be our Monitoring Officer, and she accepted! Zainab has a degree in Public Health, and is committed to protecting, preserving, and promoting health, especially maternal health.
She will visit all our classes regularly to continue the relationships we have built and to provide additional support in solving problems in setting up an ongoing organization. Zainab will also help with preparing sites for our classes. We expect Zainab to get many hours on our motorcycle when we get it!
Zainab Massaquoi, MOMS’ new Monitoring Officer
We have some other opportunities in the works that will help the women we train achieve more independence. Watch this space!
But for now, many congratulations to Zainab. We are looking forward to doing good work together. Zainab is in our Train-the-Trainer program. In the Fall, she will take the Community Health Worker class and next year should finish certification as a MOMS Trainer. Zainab will also work part time as a tailor. She was recently granted a newly refurbished treadle sewing machine as hers had broken. She (and we) are excited! We really like the clothes she designs and the excellence of her tailoring.
A recurring donation will help us pay Zainab’s salary of $75 per month plus room and board. Would you help? Click here for either PayPal or Donorbox links to set up recurring donations. We love them!
PLANS!
MOMS is going back to Sierra Leone! We hope to travel from late October to early December, 2023. We will have a busy schedule for this trip. While we plan to teach in only one site, we will be working with our student trainers.
Our student trainers studied for three weeks in April, learning about MOMS values and policies, adult learning theory, and our content. Next, they must demonstrate their ability to teach, not just on the MOMS team, but in a real classroom.
Those of you who teach or train know that classroom management can be hard work! Most of our learners have never been in any class before, so the whole experience is new to them. They are not children, so they are not like kindergartners, but they are novices as students. Training adults requires different techniques than teaching kids, and not many people know or are adept at those techniques.
With six student trainers, we will be busy watching and giving feedback. But training trainers is one o the best things in the world to do!
Above, you see our existing staff and our new student trainers. At the far left is MOMS Education Director, Trish Ross. Trish has decades of experience in training and development and manages the Train-the-Trainer sessions. Jitta Rogers Seisay, at the far right, is MOMS Training Manager. She is learning how to train trainers, so that next class, Trish will observe her and give feedback.
MOMS aims to increase capability and sustainability. Training staff not just to please the boss but to function independently — and excellently — is essential to meet our goals.
THE CORE OF MOMS WORK
MOMS educates and trains. MOMS’ learners use their knowledge and skill as a platform to amplify their voices.
MOMS prepares women to become Community Health Workers and to support their neighbors. MOMS learners gain a much-valued skill and move toward independence. Their neighbors receive thoughtful, evidence-based maternity care and have a role model to guide them to better health. MOMS CHWs share their hope and pride with their community. This is a win-win situation!
Feel free to browse the website then contact us for more information.
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