Rafiki Exchange's Month of Mothers

Rafiki Exchange Presents a Month of Mothers

Mom, mother, mum, mamma—these words are used so often by all of us.
​A UK study shows that children ask their mom about 300 questions a day, making mothers the most quizzed professionals.
 
Mother’s Day is a month away, and as we plan to celebrate the special women in our lives, it’s important to remember

the mothers who are overlooked, the mothers who aren’t made to feel special,
the mothers who struggle to provide for their children.
 
Follow the Rafiki Exchange as we talk about the mothers many overlook. 

What do the lives of African mothers look like?
In many African countries, motherhood is especially difficult. Often without adequate resources and support, mothers struggle daily to provide for themselves and their children.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, it is not unlikely for a mother to lose her child at a young age. According to the World Health Organization, children in Sub-Saharan Africa are 15 times more likely to die before age five than children in developed regions

From a young age, African girls are encouraged to marry and have children. Social traditions are often forced upon them; UNICEF notes that in West and Central Africa 41% of girls marry before reaching the age of 18.
 
African women are the sole caregivers of their children. Should a mother pass away, then another woman in the family—not the child’s father— would assume the child’s care.

Many African mothers experience a life filled with hard physical labor. Before connecting with Rafiki, mothers in our Widows groups used to break rocks in a quarry for income. Imagine sitting in a pile of rocks all day, breaking them with your bare hands while carrying a child on your back. After joining a Rafiki Widows Group, our African mothers now have hope.
 
We partner with mothers by giving them dignified work, an income to support their families, and the Rafiki Bible Study to feed their souls.