By Suzanah D. Raffield
I’ve just returned from Tanzania and four weeks with a maternal health women’s sewing cooperative. My time there was remarkable. Joy and sadness seemed exaggerated by the lives and needs of those around me.
As a researcher in Body Theology and maternal health I struggle with the fact that, in Tanzania, one out of 10 women die as a result of pregnancy. This statistic is preventable, but how do we change it?
On Sundays after church and during my weekday visits, the women with whom I networked asked basic questions about biology and theology. Together we walked through a maternal health Bible study. I wanted them to know that God cares about the health of women and that one out of 10 deaths due to pregnancy is too many. I wanted them to know we could change that number.
Midway through my journey I started to feel overwhelmed. The needs were and are so great and I am one person. I believe that as Baptists we are a part of a worldwide network capable of contributing to the increase of maternal health. While in Tanzania I struggled with the vastness of maternal mortality. Yes, we are part of a network, but how do we engage the network?
I thought about the beautiful African cloth the women in the village wear. I thought about the different ways the cloth can be worn and used. I thought about Baptist women in Alabama, South Carolina, New York and California. And the women in Kidete began to sew. They made bracelets and kitenges (sarongs). The women sat in circles and laughed and sang and sewed. As I watched their hands and heard their stories, I felt less overwhelmed.
Within days of returning home I received a request for 60 bracelets to be used as gifts at a women’s meeting. My friends from the village are selling the bracelets as a way to purchase a treadle sewing machine. Now they are 60 percent of the way to their goal.
Women’s group in Tanzania.
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Because we know economic development means increased opportunities for education, it isn’t just a sewing machine and it isn’t just a bracelet. Increased education means increased healthcare. That is how the $1 bracelets purchased will increase the maternal health of an entire village.
The bracelets and kitenges were made with hands full of hope and love. Some are better crafted than others. The majority of the participants had never used a pair of scissors. The skilled hands of my friends in the cooperative typically draw water, harvest crops, gather firewood and comfort multiple babies. I imagine that as they craft more items, the flaws will be less frequent. At this time, I consider any blemishes a part of their worth. Their first fruits are worth more than perfection.
The women are busy crafting. They’ve determined that a portion of the money from upcoming sales will help a sister village begin their own co-op. They believe in the power of networking and know that as the economy develops, so will their secondary school and health clinic.
I believe in the power of networking too. The local church is poised to make significant contributions to the increase of maternal health. We can assemble birthing kits and we can buy bracelets. We can train birthing attendants and we can buy kitenges. Our collective resources are staggering. What the women of Kidete have to teach us is priceless. We need each other.