Agnes’s Story

Mothers like Agnes in Uganda face dangers. They wake up every morning not knowing if their babies and children will survive.

The catastrophic climate emergency has seen a sharp surge in the number of people suffering from malaria. This deadly disease is reaching record levels.

The youngest and pregnant women are most at risk. Some women are suffering heart-breaking miscarriages in pregnancy.

This cannot continue.

With your help, we can reduce the number of women and children affected, saving lives.

Training volunteer community health workers can help raise awareness of malaria. They can give advice to overcome risks and treat sick children.

Every £30 donated could help train another volunteer community health worker. With your generosity, we can train more of these volunteers in Uganda.

We’ve already had a small group of compassionate Women and Children First supporters make their Mother’s Day gift.

They have said they will match every donation given by fellow supporters before Tuesday 31st March.

Agnes and her 8-month old baby, Miriam, live in the Wirao region. It’s particularly affected by the rainy season and the danger it creates for families.

“The weather’s changed, the rain’s increased. So have breeding places for mosquitoes. There are too many.”

Agnes did all she could, but Miriam got a mosquito bite – and she quickly became sick.

“Miriam was constantly hot, yellow eyes, vomiting. She lacked appetite. I thought she wouldn’t survive.”

The fear was overwhelming. Agnes stayed strong. She knew what to do.

She learnt about malaria from her local volunteer health worker, trained by Women and Children First. 

“I decided to bring Miriam to the hospital. My baby was admitted in the ward and treated with injections.

“She’s now alive and playing well!

“I know other mothers who had malaria in pregnancy, suffering a miscarriage. I am scared others will suffer. I am scared my family will suffer again. The rains are still so heavy.”

Providing the necessary knowledge to mothers like Agnes can help women and children in the world’s most remote communities survive and thrive.

With your generosity, we can train more volunteer community health workers in Uganda.

The health workers are volunteers, mostly women, who once trained, can spread awareness of malaria’s symptoms and how to prevent it.

It costs just £30 to train another volunteer health worker, enabling more mothers, their children and their communities to overcome the disease.

Please remember to give by 31st March to double the impact of your gift, with a donation from our other compassionate supporters. This means together we can help twice as many women and children. Thank you.