Motherhood should be a choice

Part 2

We are starting our Mother’s Day celebration early because we think mothers should be celebrated every day. Motherhood is a 24/7 job that requires love, nurturing, tenacity and courage. In honor of Mother’s Day, our Motherhood Should Be a Choice series tells the stories of women who are choosing their own futures for themselves and their families.

This is the story of Umah Dumbaya, an MSI client and peer educator who teaches young women in her community about the power of contraception.

Young women and girls face many barriers when they try to access sexual and reproductive health services. MSI recognizes that adolescent women face obstacles regarding their age, marital status, and limited income, so we are adapting our traditional delivery models to serve them.

Umah is a peer educator for MSI Sierra Leone.

Umah lives with her aunt, sisters and cousins in Bo City, Sierra Leone. As one of the few young women in her community to attend university, she is a passionate advocate of education. Many of her friends dropped out or were forced to leave school when they became pregnant.

Resolute in her desire to keep studying and wait to have a family, Umah started using contraception when she was 18. In the seven years since, she has completed her schooling and earned a degree.

She is one of the only women in her community who is attending university.

“I knew I wanted to continue with my studies, and I didn’t want to give birth to a child out of wedlock,” she said. “I cannot rely on a man to support me as an unmarried mother.”

Since graduating, Umah has been working for an organization called African Young Voices, which promotes and develops youth activities in Sierra Leone. But her dedication to empowering youth extends beyond her day to day job. Because she is such a strong advocate of contraception and its benefits to young women, Umah became a peer educator for MSI Sierra Leone.

“I go out and talk to women in my community about the importance of family planning and the reasons for increased drop out from school among adolescent girls,” she said. “I want to help young women understand the power of contraception and avoid unwanted pregnancies so they can pursue their dreams like I did.”

Umah runs peer education sessions for mostly women, although a few men also attend.

Women like Umah are empowering her peers to plan their futures and achieve their full potentials. Every woman deserves to choose if and when to become a mother. Umah’s work encourages young mothers to make these decisions for themselves.

Umah’s own experiences with contraception encouraged her to become a reproductive health advocate.

“Getting an education was my dream and taking contraception has allowed me to pursue that,” she said. “I’ve avoided many of the challenges my friends have faced. And today I am a graduate, something I am very proud of as a young woman here.”

To all amazing mothers worldwide, happy Mother’s Day.

Click here to read Part One of the Motherhood Should Be a Choice series.

Click here to read Part Three of the Motherhood Should Be a Choice series.