Mothers were giving birth by torchlight until we installed fully lit waiting huts for pregnant women

Dr Freda Wemin, Founder of Mama Waiting Hut initiative in Papua New Guinea, explained the value of designated spaces for women before and after birth.

I am a village girl. I was born in 1977 on November 1, unsupervised, in the village of Du, Chimbu Province. I am the second of seven children. Today, none of my siblings are in professional careers. My older sister started to train to be a nurse, but then she got married and dropped out of training. If you get pregnant during secondary school, then you can’t carry on because of the stigma attached. It’s changing now, but it still happens. I am the only one who went through university from my family.

Now, I am married with three children, aged; 22, 15 and 11. We live in Goroka, two hours’ drive from my village people. I do outreach among my people and get to see my family a lot. This is my seventh year living here. My husband is self- employed. He has a PHD in economics, we met at university. My village is called Du, and it is very remote, it is an hour drive in a four-wheeled drive to the nearest town along unfilled roads. It is in the mountains and the views are very beautiful.