Maama Watali
Maama Watali meaning “in the absence of a Mother” is an Ottawa-based, Black-led nonprofit organization with an international reach. Though Maama Watali was officially incorporated in 2012, though it had been operating for many years prior in support of Black Women and their families as they navigate rebuilding their social and economic lives after personal loss and gender-based violence.
The genesis for the organization stemmed from the loss of the founder’s mother, Ms. Manjeri Nakitende, who passed away in Mulago Hospital, Kampala in December 2007. Her home was a world away from Canada, in the mainly agricultural town of Luweero in the central region of Uganda, East Africa[i]. An area remembered as the “Luweero Triangle”, the epicenter for the brutal counterinsurgency that took place by the government of Milton Obote, known as the Luweero War or the “Bush War” in the early to mid-1980s when thousands of civilians lost their lives. The combination of the war and HIV/AIDs pandemic resulted in many children left orphaned. With tenacity and resilience Ms. Namulindwa, who found herself an adult orphan, embraced the other orphans with Maama Watali as their anchor.
Since then, the organization has successfully undertaken several projects including the creation of a library in the town through book donations from Ottawa residents, the generosity of the Rotary Club, and transportation companies ensuring safe delivery of educational materials. Women, their families, and local teachers now have the resources to create and support a learning environment in the community.
In Ottawa, Ms. Namulindwa drew upon her personal experience partnering with a collective of other women to support women and families facing personal loss or gender-based violence. She worked to increase awareness of women’s fundamental human rights. Along with the collective of women, she worked to educate women of African, Black, and Caribbean roots, Canadian or immigrant born, and living within the Canadian diaspora to own and live the true meaning of the United Nations[i] many instruments governing women’s’ rights as human rights. The rights of equality between men and women are among the most fundamental guarantees of human rights. These rights are part of Canadian law, including the right to protection from the law against all forms of gender-based violence either in the private or public sphere.