Mothers-to-Mothers

HI 😊 My name is Anne.

I am a nurse and work as a teacher in the Bachelor of Nursing program at Molde University College.

I was fortunate to participate in a NOREC teacher exchange to Dar Es Salaam in the winter of 2024. One of our assignments, together with two others on the exchange program, was to share health knowledge.

At Uhuru Mchanganyiko Primary School, there were mothers who their accompanied their children to class and waited for them until the end of the day. A group of these mothers has organized themselves into a collective named "Uhuru Mama Collective" in connection with this NOREC project. They make different products for sale, and we had the opportunity to meet them several times and get to know them a little better.

We, who were on the exchange program, made ourselves available to the mothers if they wished to gain more knowledge about certain topics or wanted to discuss particular matters. They themselves selected the topics of children's nutrition and reproductive health.

We leveraged each other's expertise in various ways -academically, socially, culturally, and linguistically. We communicated in English, which was translated into Swahili by one of us who was a native speaker. Our difference in professional and cultural background complemented each other.

This form of knowledge exchange was a new experience for me as a teacher on an exchange program, especially considering that we taught in two languages, English and Swahili. It was particularly important for us to demonstrate through both words and actions that we valued two-way communication, which the mothers appreciated and evaluated positively.

The mothers appreciated being served juice and some food. Additionally, each person was given gifts such as soap, toothpaste, and toothbrushes from us and other contributors.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have met the mothers and learn from them about their experiences of being mothers in Dar Es Salaam."

All in all – successful days.