Amani Family Centre

13/09/2026

And it wouldn't be complete day without a sing song and a boogie!!

11/09/2026

Just by the way, no political or debate or blame of circumstances on mothers or our community will be tolerated. And such posts will be removed and you blocked off the page. How dare anyone claiming the title 'missionary' ever blame a young mother for her own death in defence of their own personal political opinion. We have no part in other countries politics. Keep those to yourself please....shame on you!!!

We state facts about how our community is trying to survive and if it offends your personal politics..sorry about that!! We are not about politics.

08/09/2026

A heavy few weeks for a number of reasons but today we mourn the loss of one of our precious mummies....at just 4 weeks after her new little life was born with us in Amani. Despite the advances in HIV care and longevity, the stigma and taboo of HIV continues to prevent many sufferers from attending for regular check ups and antiretrovirals....which are still FREE.

Today we lost Mary (not her real name) who despite registering for antenatal care, she was a struggle to keep getting her to attend, requiring home visits and regular phone calls. On the night she came in labour despite her assurance that she was taking her meds and that she had the syrup for her baby...which is given immediately after birth as a post exposure prophylaxis....arrived at 2am in advanced labour with no syrup, meaning the baby was exposed not only to a high risk mother who had not been taking her ARVs fearing someone might see her take them, and also coming with no syrup, put the baby at an immediate dosadvantage and risk. This medicine ia allocated to each patient as part of their care and as it has a short shelf life cannot be stored for long do we do not stock it. And thanks to a certain Mr T, funding was cut significantly so there is no spare to be wasted.

As soon as the day light came the assiting midiwife sent her off to get the syrup which she assured us she got. However she never returned for any postnatal checks and home visits were done but no sign of our mummy. Tragically at 4 weeks her husband came to report she had been taken into hospital unconscious, but a very difficult situation ensued when he now suspected she had HIV but that she hadnt told him. And because of patient confidentiality no health care professional was allowed to tell him.....until she died and then he was told what she died of.....a young man, unprotected, can only know this when his wife dies? A huge ethical dilemma.

As a young man and the stigma attached to this meant his family have refused as for now to care for the baby and even more tragically although a babies status is not confirmed until after 6 weeks, so far the baby has tested positive on initial tests. And he just felt he cannot look after her for now. The cost of formula and child care to allow him to work but also just his age and inability to provide for his baby as he grieves and worries that in a few months he too will test positive, he graciously allowed us to arrange for a foster placement with one of our wonderful partner organisations CHILDS EYE FOUNDATION who provide safe, Ugandan and trained foster parents preventing this little life being swallowed up in to the orphanage business. This organisation provide a full care package that keeps the family in touch with a foster family and even providing meet ups to maintain the bond. When the time comes that the family or dad decide to care for their baby, they are given full support and counseling to enable reintegration to happen safely.

Should this family feel they cannot take their baby, then adoption is arranged with Ugandan families through the safe and legal channels ensuring this little one will be hopefully raised in a loving Ugandan family who will be able to provide all.the needs including medical needles of this little life.

Please remember tonight Mary's husband who is not only grieving such an unexpected death but has been left with the fear of his own health and that of his baby. But also the family....please pray that there is forgiveness in their hearts for Mary's secret and now she has gone that they can grow to love and accept this little one as the innocent party in this. But that she is raised loved and aafe and protected.

03/09/2026

It is with such deep deep sadness that Amani has lost one of their special babies this morning. Gianni was born in Amani on March 30th to mummy Winnie. A wonderful birth, with midiwfe Rebecca but after the birth she was noted to be having a bit of laboured breathing and also features of Downs syndrome. She was referred immediately for monitoring and thanks to your support we were able to fund a cardiac echo, a routine scan we do on all our babies born with Downs due to the high numbers of babies affected having cardiac problems.

Indeed it was that she was confirmwd to have a number of heart defects that in the future would require surgery but first we had to build her up a bit. Since birth, her amazing mummy has batteld to keep Gianna going. To and from the hospital, making sure she always had her medicine and above all loving on her like she was the whole world. She was thriving! It was always a pleasure to see her coming for her weigh ins and top ups of meds. But this month she started to struggle a bit more with her breathing and weight gain and she was referred a number if times to the specialist.

This morning we got a visit from the Jaaja that Gianna had taken a turn for the worse in the night and on the boda on the way to the hospital her little soul left her. Whilst to see her at rest with no struggle this morning was in a sense a relief, the pain of holding her mummy as she starts her difficult journey without her was very raw and we are all feeling her loss immensely.

Please remember mummy Winnie tonight and in the coming days as she comes to terms with little Giannas death, but also our staff who have over the few months of her life spent time with her and loved her and encouraged her mum to keep going.

Rest well little Gianna. Precious little girl. We love you.

03/09/2026

01/09/2026

Tuesday booking and teaching day, and its always such a pleasure to watch our midwives welcome and teach our new mums and start that very special interaction and building of relationships thats Amani focuses on. Today we even had 2 dads!!! Full house again.

Amani is a special place and a safe, relaxed and loving space for mums to journey through their pregnancy often in very difficult circumstances.

28/08/2026

Today our team, have been incredibly challenged as a team, as flowers of Christ but above all as human beings. . Everyday in Amani we work with some of the most vulnerable mothers and women in Uganda. And the staff do it humbly and quietly with no fanfares or colourful recognition about their successes....well just a little when new life arrives safely! But sometimes at the end of the day and we rest and relax in the safety and confines of our lovely familiar safe clinic that we know and love we get overly comfortable and often makes us subconsciously close our eyes to the bigger picture and the reality from.which some of our mothers live and work. By doing that we totally undermine the brutality and desperation some women live in to survive. And when we step out beyond that comfort zone, we are forced to catch our breathe and take a good hard look at ourselves and remember why Amani exists and why we battle for our mums.

Today we ventured out to another close by community, but one where kn a normal.day, we pass by with our heads turned ignoring the elephant in the room! This os where many of our mums come from but one well known as being one of the most well known 'red light districts' in Kampala. Not the high class beautiful escorts that other rich hotels offer for wealthy men to enjoy the company of a beautiful lady for a large fee, but a community of women so desperate for survival and 'love' but so numb and unaware of their right to feel loved and to experience a se***l relationships and intimacy within in the safety of long term partnership,. Instead they opt from 10am to fill up with alcolol to allow the next 24 hours of 'work' as 's** workers' to pass as bearable but risking unwanted pregnancies and subsequent illegal.and unsafe abor****, life limiting infections and abuse. For 5000 UGX (approx £2.50) more if they agree to no protection....these precious women sell themselves to men averaging 15 to 20 in a day's work...only to sleep a few hours and do it all again. But for us in Amani.....they are right on our doorstep...up a little alleyway in a busy 'normal' part of the city. But still they dont come, for.fear of abuse and judgement and scorning looks from those who believe themselves better than them. Why are we challenged by this so deeply? Because we we venture into the territory of another, when we step outbof our comfy comfort zone and aut in their zones....we are hit with a fraction of the pain and suffering others go through. And ita not a comfortable place to sit. But life does not always sit comfortably..and as HUMANS, regardless of ANY religion, we need ti sit in those seats and listen to the stories we have the privilege to hear.

When one of these people...one of the most scorned and judged and looked down upon by people who have no right to do so.... say...thank you musawo for helping us, and they sit in front of us, put their arms out while we stick a needle in it...and they smile at us and treat us as their trusted friend, there has to be a big shift in our hearts that questions our own humanity.

This community is the most judged, rejected, labelled and pushed to the margins of society, iften those who claim to be serving God. But before we see a label, a lifestyle or a past, Jesus calls us to see a person, a person created in the image of God, deeply loved by their Creator regardless if their lifestyle. As parents, who can hate their own child no matter what they do?

Jesus never reserved His love for the people society considered respectable or worthy. He reached out to the rejected, the broken, the outcast and those others were quick to condemn and judge their lifestyle. He saw their humanity when others only saw their mistakes.

And perhaps today as we think over the atories we heard and looked in the empty eyes of both men and women begging to survive, the challenge isn't only to ask, “How can we help them?”

Perhaps it is also to ask ourselves, “Who have I judged?”

Who have I decided is too far gone?
Who have I quietly written off?
Who do I struggle to see as a beloved child of God?

We are called to love everyone , not just those who are easy to love, agree with us, live like us or fit comfortably into our understanding of faith regardless of whatever 'god' we follow!!

Loving someone doesn't mean ignoring wrongdoing or pretending difficult things don't exist. It means choosing compassion over condemnation, dignity over shame, and relationship over rejection.

Tonight, may we all challenge our hearts.

May we look beyond labels.
May we question our own judgements.
May we remember that every person we encounter is someone God loves.

“Love your neighbour as yourself.” — Mark 12:31

And perhaps the person we find hardest to love is the very person Jesus is asking us to see differently. ❤️

Today we screened 50 men and women from the 's*x' work community already intoxicated by 10am....24% out of that 50 were HIV positive with all but one being women. 22% were infected with syphilis and half of those were doubly infected with HIV. With 2 people infected with hepatitis.

Thanks to your ongoing love and support we were able to do those tests and all syphilis infected women treated and those HIV who were unaware be alerted that they needed to attend an appropriate clinic for followup and treatment. Those with syphilis will.need 2 more treatments a week apart, which we will endeavour to do.

2 severe long term wounds were treated and next week we will help provide them with referral and transport to a specialist hospital.for more specialist care.....all because of your support.

Thank you to all who continue to love and support us. This is the dark side to cute babies!! Behind those babies are mothers who live lives none of us can imagine.