THEY ARE CALLED “the ladies in blue” and for many a woman who knows them as such, the Mothers’ Union is a saving grace.
The worldwide Christian organization within the Anglican denomination is perhaps the church’s best kept secret in the way it extends its arms beyond the pews and pillars.
“Our mission is to promote and support married life, to encourage parents in their role to develop the faith of their children and to maintain a worldwide fellowship of Christians united in prayer, worship and service,” says president of the Mothers’ Union of Barbados, Iris Harewood.
“It is also to promote conditions in society favourable to stable family life and protection of children and to help those whose lives have met with adversity.”
With a local membership of 2 000 spread among the many Anglican churches in Barbados’ 11 parishes, the outreach of the Mothers’ Union does manage to extend into communities of the less fortunate, offering programmes designed “to help those whose lives have met with adversity”.
For the last six years, these women have been feeding more than 100 children from three schools in the Bridgetown area. Their breakfast programme in St Mary’s Home, Emmerton Lane, has proven to be a life-saver for many a child whose parents or parent must leave the house early in the morning for work, without preparing a meal for their child. The reality is that in many instances, parents do not have the means to prepare that meal.
“We saw the need for this programme because even in our neighbourhoods we would see and hear people asking for assistance, and we know how important it is for schoolchildren to have something in their stomachs to start the day,” the president said.
Part of their store of food items is bought with funds raised by the organization, while the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) also assists.
Traditionally, marriage has been a precondition for membership of the organization. As Harewood explained, “in Christian family life, you should be married”.
But the Mothers’ Union has come to terms with the reality of life in a society where the common law relationship is the norm.
“Nowadays we accept that some mothers choose not to marry and once they are in good standing, baptized
in the Anglican faith, they can become members of the Mothers’ Union,” Harewood told the SUNDAY?SUN.
They consider it important to embrace these women, who through their own Christian principles, and the backing of an organization in which family values are rooted in Christian values, are perhaps in a better position to lead a family by example through association.
Although Bishop of Barbados Dr John Holder holds marriage as the standard, he too acknowledges that this church organization must make accommodation for the unwed mother who wants to align herself with the Mothers’ Union and what it represents.
In this business of family outreach and development, the membership is aided by the Worldwide Mothers’ Union which has its headquarters in Britain.
Trained parenting facilitators do field work to educate parents to manage their homes, teaching them how to budget and how to care for their children.
Through the Mary Sumner House headquarters in Britain, each country has a qualified trainer who in turn trains men and women at the local level to be parenting facilitators.
“We work quietly,” said Harewood.
The Mothers’ Union in Barbados is celebrating 100 years of existence. The white dress worn by members of yesterday has now been replaced by blue.
“People know the ladies in blue. They trust us and ask for assistance,” Harewood added.
That plea for assistance comes from different quarters. People afflicted with HIV have turned to them, and they have at times even given comfort to the children of victims.
The Shelter For Battered Women and the Nightengale Home have also been beneficiaries of their generosity. They have also demonstrated solidarity with the Bureau of Gender Affairs in that body’s campaign against domestic violence, participating in their programme Sixteen Days Of Activism which puts the spotlight on violence against women.
“We have zero tolerance for gender violence, whether it be man beating woman or woman beating man,” Harewood declared.
This is one of the reasons female parenting facilitators have shared their training with men who are now training other men to assist young men and help them cope with the difficult responsibility of parenting and family life.
“We have to encourage our men and our young boys,” Harewood stressed. “We too have to look at ourselves and see what we are doing wrong and to meet the young people where they are.
“We would like to take them back to the Bible and the teachings on disobedience because a lot of hardship in life comes from disobedience.”
This married mother of two sons has been a member of the Mothers’ Union for 31 years and became president in January.
She was inspired by her mother, a fervent believer in the Mothers’ Union ideals.
“Membership of the Mothers’ Union has given me more incentive to help other mothers. It has encouraged me to get out there, to be more active and to live the Christian way,” said Harewood.
In her job she has had the experience of reaching out to young mothers who have fallen through the cracks, and she is eager to extend that outreach through the tentacles of the organization she now heads.
She believes teenaged mothers in the church should not be abandoned because of the unfortunate situation of an unplanned early pregnancy, and that there must be a role for the Mothers’ Union in helping them to find their way back towards a productive life in which their educational and other goals can be reached.
“I want us to get into the polyclinics to catch them there and even the young fathers who take their children there.”
Harewood balances the role of Mothers’ Union president with a demanding job as a public servant, but confesses she relies heavily on the support of her team of 15 other executive members.
Her undergirding for the task is prayer. “I pray a lot for patience and I have to exercise a lot of patience dealing with people.”