How Shanti Uganda was born

Natalie Angell-Besseling, executive director of The Shanti Uganda Society, thought she was going into international development when she originally planned her career goals.  But after working a while with large non-profit organizations she knew she wanted to do more grassroots, hands on work.  A trip to Uganda to volunteer as a doula helped her connect with local women involved in a beading collective and a new dream was born. 

Natalie was touched by her experience working with midwives in Ugandan hospitals and birth centers.  Natalie says, “They worked so hard with no supplies, no support and not enough staff.  They were exhausted and burned out and because so many women died, they had a lot of fear and a complete lack of trust in the birth process.”  When she went home from that trip, Natalie started hatching a whole new plan for where her work would take her. 

Shanti Uganda birth center was launched with the help of a grant provided by Off The Mat and Into The World, a program that’s part of the nonprofit, The Engage Network, founded in 2007 by Seane Corn, Hala Khouri and Suzanne Sterling.  Off The Mat’s mission is to use the power of yoga to inspire conscious, sustainable activism and ignite grassroots social change.  

Natalie originally thought she’d work with existing health facilities in Uganda, but met such resistance and so many complicating conditions that she realized the only way to create a birth center that met the needs and desires of the community was to start from scratch.  Shanti Uganda bought the land, worked with community members and created a birth center like no other in Uganda.  With a focus on women-centered, respectful, compassionate and sustainable healthcare and education for women, midwives, doulas and other healthcare providers, Shanti Uganda Birth Center has become  a model of success Natalie hopes will be emulated in other areas.