Page 117 - Demo

115Tell me more%u2014can you give me a concrete example where this has actually worked?Women in Uganda and in Nepallearned TM, and here is what happened.In Kampala, the capital of Uganda, many women are widowed or abandoned. These vulnerable and often illiterate single mothers are left to provide for their children without skills or opportunities for work.United Women Platform for Empowerment and Development (UWOPED), a non-profit dedicated to empowering vulnerable women in Kampala and beyond, set up classes in tailoring, soap making, mushroom growing, hairdressing, and computer training. Leader Brenda Nakalembe says:But the response was very low. The women would say, %u201cWe don%u2019t think these skills can really help us because we have too many problems.%u201d Or %u201cWe can%u2019t concentrate enough to learn these skills.%u201d These women were overwhelmed with stress, worry, fatigue, insomnia, depression, and ill health. They felt hopeless and couldn%u2019t think clearly or focus on making their lives better. We had to work very hard to get them to participate at all, and then the majority wouldn%u2019t continue.Brenda learned TM herself, and found it life-changing:Practicing TM helped me to stop wasting my time on worrying and to channel my energy into my work, to be more creative and recognize new opportunities, to become more patient.Brenda realized that this was exactly what the women of UWOPED needed in order to change their destinies%u2014empowerment from within.Now well over 1000 mothers and children have learned TM and the results have been remarkable.Women who were too stressed and isolated to leave their homes are now running their own businesses, earning money to send their children to school. The children are happy and learning well. Many women have become elected leaders in the women%u2019s councils of their communities.