A job well done. And a job that’s far from done.
That’s one way to see UCU’s leadership in helping to fight the age-old scourge of death in childbirth, a scourge that kills more than half a million mothers and four million children every year worldwide, virtually all in the developing world.

The university’s role, through its five-year-old Save the Mothers (STM) Programme, was highlighted March 6 with a visit by Uganda’s First Lady, MP Janet Museveni, who heaped praises on UCU and STM for its efforts.
“I commend this university for its tremendous work with safe motherhood; for its training and for its sensitizing the public,” said Museveni during her third visit to UCU in three years, this time for STM’s Healthy Mothers, Healthy Nation initiative.
“Thank you for demonstrating that every life is special in God’s eyes. You’re not just living in an Ivory Tower as so many universities do. You are literally the salt of the Earth and change agents.”
In her address, Museveni touched on birth control twice as one way to help ensure Uganda’s mothers are at less risk.
“Childbirth is not to be done haphazardly, but in a planned manner,” she said. “Every family should plan concisely how many children to have.”
Appearing well-versed in other aspects of safe motherhood, she also spoke of the three deadly delays in care that keep mothers from safe deliveries; delays at home, during transport or at the clinic.
While it’s estimated that 6,000 Ugandan women die every year due to unsafe deliveries, Museveni noted that public awareness has never been higher. “This week alone we’ve had three functions that deal with maternal health. God is awakening us as a community and he is awakening us a nation,” she said.
UCU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Stephen Noll noted that recent tragedies such as the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile and, more recently, the mudslides in Mt. Elgon, show that much in life is out of human hands and that’s a reminder of its sacredness within God’s providence.
“But much is in our hands, also,” he said, noting that UCU will continue to support STM as it strives to help needy mothers in Uganda and broader East Africa.
He pointed out that even in the developing world, as late as the late 19th century, mothers – including his own grandmother – commonly died in childbirth.
Dr. Jean Chamberlain Froese, STM’s founding executive director, thanked the many organizations that STM is partnering with.
“The rest of the world is waking up to the plight of mothers in the developing world,” she also said. “My own Prime Minister in Canada, Stephen Harper, has just announced that safe motherhood will be the focus of the upcoming meetings of global leaders at the G8 and G20 summits, which are being held within two hours of my home in Canada.
“I’m proud that Canada is starting to play a role in the health of mothers, but I’m even more proud of the STM champions that are seated here,” said Chamberlain Froese.