The role of the mother is all-important in a family. The impact of losing a mother is fivefold, according to research: children are more likely to live a life of crime, prostitution or worse. Women are the linchpin of communities and often of the local economy. This fact is the basis for the collaboration between FCF and SOS Children's Villages. With funding from the National Postcode Lottery, we started in 2011 on a large scale in Gambia, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya and Ghana. It proved to be a highly successful combination: our expertise in cervical cancer prevention added to SOS Children's Villages' established trust in vulnerable communities. Since then, many health workers have been trained by our trainers and supervisors and have educated over 400,000 women and screened and treated 60,000 as needed. The comprehensive Save my Mother Evaluation is available to read.
In the second phase, country teams scaled up and focused on local anchoring of the program. Collaboration with public agencies, governments, and, for example, the cancer foundation is central.
See the practice? These two videos show it: