#030 - From Preterm Mother to Movement Builder: How Mama Tulia Is Bridging the Gap Between NICU and Home, in Uganda
- Mickael Guigui
- 10 hours ago
- 19 min read
Hello friends 👋
In this episode, Mbozu and Shelly-Ann sit down with Isabelle Furaha, a Congolese-born mother living in Uganda, whose experience with prematurity and loss led her to create Mama Tulia Ministries. After losing a 26-week infant and later bringing home a daughter born at 33 weeks due to preeclampsia, Isabelle committed herself to supporting other mothers facing the same fear and uncertainty.
What began as simple hospital visits and prayer, grew into a community-based continuum of care, supporting vulnerable mothers and preterm infants after discharge. Isabelle shares how Mama Tulia evolved from one woman visiting NICUs, into an NGO providing home follow-up, temporary housing, nutrition support, ROP screening advocacy, family engagement, and mentorship for mothers across Uganda.
Link to episode on youtube: https://youtu.be/B8PSaMFci3Q
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Short Bio: Isabelle Furaha is the founder and executive director of Mama Tulia Ministries, a Uganda-based organization supporting preterm infants and their families after hospital discharge. A mother of three and a preterm birth survivor herself, she created Mama Tulia following the loss of her first premature infant and the survival of her daughter born at 33 weeks. Her work now spans hospital support, transitional care, home follow-up, nutrition programs, and ROP advocacy across Uganda.
Connect:
Connect with Isabelle Furaha: https://tally.so/r/jagBkQ
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What we covered
The story behind Mama Tulia: Isabelle explains how the name “Mama Tulia,” meaning “mother, take heart” in Swahili, reflects the organization’s mission to walk alongside mothers of preterm babies with encouragement and practical support.
Starting with one hospital visit: What began as sharing her story and praying with mothers quickly exposed deeper needs, including teenage mothers without diapers, safe housing, or family support after discharge.
Why discharge is only the beginning: Isabelle discusses the gap between hospital survival and home survival for preterm infants, especially in low-resource settings where flooding, unsafe heating methods, and food insecurity create ongoing risks.
Building a continuum of care: The team developed an eight-part model including hospital-based support, transitional housing through the “Tulia Tender Nest,” home visits, nutrition assistance, community engagement, and spiritual care.
ROP screening in resource-limited settings: Isabelle shares how Mama Tulia helped launch retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening camps after encountering a child who became blind because screening was delayed. The program has since screened more than 2,000 babies and treated over 100.
Growing an NGO through local fundraising: Before receiving grants, Mama Tulia relied on community dinners, monthly donors, volunteers, church partnerships, and small contributions from friends and supporters.
Leadership learned in motion: Isabelle reflects on leading without formal medical training, learning through mentors, persistence, and a willingness to start small and adapt as needs became clearer.
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The transcript of today's episode can be found below 👇
Mbozu Sipalo (00:02)Mama Tulia means "mother, take heart" in Swahili. It's also the name of the organization our next guest founded in Uganda, the Pearl of Africa, after losing her first baby to preterm birth and bringing her second baby home from a 33-week delivery. Isabelle Furaha — which means "joy" — is the founder and executive director of Mama Tulia Ministries, which walks with mothers and preterm babies through the weeks after hospital discharge. Isabelle Furaha, Joy, welcome to the Global Neonatal Podcast. We're so glad to have you. And Shelly-Ann, lovely to see you again — how are you doing?
Shelly-Ann Dakarai (00:49)I'm good, very excited for this conversation. I know I say that every time — every guest we meet is just amazing — but this one has been a long time coming with scheduling, so I'm excited to unpack it.
Mbozu Sipalo (01:01)Yes, equally excited. Isabelle, how are you doing?
Isabelle Furaha (01:08)I'm doing well, thank you. Thank you, Mbozu and Shelly-Ann, for having me here on the Global Neonatal Podcast. I'm very happy to be here and ready to share my story.
Mbozu Sipalo (01:27)We're so looking forward to unpacking who Isabelle Furaha is and what Mama Tulia is all about. Before we start, could you share a bit about who you are and your personal story?
Isabelle Furaha (01:49)Isabelle Furaha is a proud preemie mom of three. After suffering several miscarriages and having preterm babies on two occasions, I started Mama Tulia Ministries — I'm the founding executive director. Mama Tulia is deeply personal to me; it's a mission born from a deeply personal journey.
I had preterm babies on two occasions. In 2014, I delivered at 26 weeks, and the baby passed away the following day. Then in 2016, I delivered another preterm baby due to preeclampsia — this one at 33 weeks. She survived, and today she's ten years old.
That's when I really realized I needed to give back to fellow preemie moms. During that hospital stay, I was full of fear — afraid this baby would pass away too. We were feeding her every two hours, and the whole time I was praying and promising God that if I made it home with this baby, I would come back and share my story and be there for other preemie mothers.
That's how Mama Tulia Ministries started. I had to choose a name, so I looked for a Swahili word — something that would make a mother who joined us feel comfortable, encourage her to take heart, and let her know we'd walk the journey with her. That's how we landed on Mama Tulia.
Today, seeing my baby at ten years old brings so much joy to our family. I wasn't expecting to have another baby given my high blood pressure — people told me they didn't think I'd survive having another one. When the first baby passed, I even told my husband it seemed like I wasn't going to make it, and that he'd need to take care of our children. But the Lord gave me a second chance, and that second chance is what pushed me to start this ministry.
Shelly-Ann Dakarai (05:04)That's beautiful, thank you for sharing that — I can't imagine those experiences. You started the organization around the time your daughter turned ten, so it's been close to ten years, and the amount of work you've done is remarkable. I want to talk about that transition from having an idea — wanting to give back — to actually starting an organization. Did you have a clear picture of what it would look like day to day at the beginning, or are you surprised by what it's become and the work you've been able to do?
Isabelle Furaha (06:41)I'm very surprised by how it's grown. The original idea was just for me to be there for these mothers, share my story, and show them pictures — because when I was in the hospital, I saw pictures of babies who'd been preterm and how they looked later, and it encouraged me so much. So my plan was simply to go, pray with the mothers, encourage them, and show them my baby's journey.
But once I actually got to the hospital, it became a different story. I remember the first time clearly — I was shocked, because I had given birth in a private hospital, but I decided to visit a public hospital to reach preemie mothers there. The situation was completely different. That first visit, I met five mothers, most of them very young — two Ugandan, two Rwandan, and one from Congo. Some were fourteen, sixteen years old.
Looking at their babies, they had nothing — not even diapers. It broke my heart. I kept visiting, praying with them, giving them hope, encouraging them to love their babies, because many of them didn't even want to look at their babies — the babies were so small. I kept telling them, "You have to speak life over this baby, you have to love them, because they are going to grow." I gave them that hope.
After about a month in the hospital, some of them were discharged, and I felt I needed to follow up — to know whether these babies would survive. That's how it kept growing. Originally I just wanted to be there for the mother and offer psychosocial support, but seeing what it's turned into today is amazing.
Mbozu Sipalo (10:11)Thank you, Isabelle, for sharing how you started — filling a gap and becoming a source of hope for young preterm mothers. I'd love to explore that growth further, because it sounds like you started very simply and now you're leading an established NGO (Non-Governmental Organization). Could you share the frameworks or ideas that emerged as your work grew — from following up with mothers in the hospital to what you have today? What were the first few key steps that took you from a woman visiting the hospital to support other mothers to becoming the executive director of an NGO?
Isabelle Furaha (14:35)The first step was hospital visits, where I provided psychosocial support. From there came the need for follow-up, so I started visiting these mothers at their homes. Then I began having mothers come to my home, because some of these young mothers had nowhere to sleep.
Eventually the hospital would call and ask if I could find a place for a mother to stay. I remember the first one — her name was Angel. I had to look around my circle and ask if anyone could accommodate her until I could reconcile her with her family. A friend offered to help with funds to rent a house for her, near my own home. During the day, they would come to my house — I turned my sitting room into a meeting space where I taught them how to care for a preterm baby.
One day I visited and found the mother wasn't there — she had locked the baby in the house and disappeared. Neighbors called me saying they hadn't seen her since morning and the baby was crying. I had to rescue the baby. When the mother came back that evening, I asked her where she'd been. She said she was at school — she wanted school more than the baby.
That's why I started having them come to my home to meet with me — that was the third step. So it went: hospital, home follow-up, then meeting with them in my sitting room.
Shelly-Ann Dakarai (17:59)That's such a powerful example of the path becoming clear as you take each step. It's hard when you're passionate about something and close to the problem — you can see every fix that's needed, and it becomes overwhelming because you feel like there's no way to get it all done. But what's inspiring about your story is that you took the first step, let the next one appear, and trusted that the resources would come as you needed them. I'd love to hear about funding — how have you been able to resource this work?
Isabelle Furaha (19:13)That's a great question, but let me back up a bit first, if that's okay. One thing I learned is that surviving the hospital isn't enough without a system that sustains life at home. So many babies survive the hospital, but you can't be sure they'll survive at home — preterm babies survive the hospital, but many don't survive once they're home. Most of the mothers we work with come from slum areas and are underprivileged.
On funding — like I mentioned, after that first hospital visit, I went home and told my husband, and he said, "This is serious." We started telling our friends, and that's how we began raising funds. People gave donations in kind. I later asked a friend how I could sustain this, and we started fundraising — inviting people to dinners and selling tickets. Later we set up a donation link, and that became the fund that helped us continue.
I also want to speak to how this grew beyond where we started. Our response was to build a continuum-of-care model — Mama Tulia Ministries developed a model that intentionally bridges the gap from hospital to home, ensuring survival is sustained and translated into thriving. It's designed as a system, not a single intervention, and it has eight pillars.
First, hospital-based support. We begin in the hospital, working alongside the health team to prepare mothers before discharge, because we saw many mothers discharged without the knowledge they needed — some were too traumatized to absorb what the hospital told them, and they'd go home not knowing what to do. So far we've made more than 1,000 hospital visits across various public hospitals in Uganda.
Second, transition and stabilization — what we now call Tulia Tender Nest. At first this meant occasionally finding support to rent a house for a mother in need, since many of our mothers come from backgrounds that aren't safe for a preterm baby — some live in homes that flood, and in trying to keep their babies warm, mothers would put a charcoal stove under the bed. We had a case where a mattress caught fire and the baby nearly died. That's why the Tulia Tender Nest transition model matters — a mother and baby receive structured transition care, building stability and confidence before they go home, so that if the house floods, the baby has a better chance of surviving. We started this program in February. Since January we've supported 20 mothers and 25 babies — some stay with us, others commute daily.
Third, home-based follow-up — visiting mothers at home. We've done over 700 home visits, extending care into the home environment, making sure mothers are sleeping somewhere safe, and providing ongoing guidance through our champion mothers, who teach danger signs and what to do at home.
Fourth, safe environment interventions. Since some mothers' homes flood and lack access to clean water — which causes infection and hygiene risks — we've provided water purifiers so they can drink safe water and bathe their babies safely.
Fifth, ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity) screening, which I'll explain more shortly. Mama Tulia has become a strong community voice on ROP in Uganda.
Sixth, community and family engagement — we engage families, especially fathers and caregivers, to share responsibility and support their wives, since we've seen many fathers not stepping up to help.
Seventh, our Manna program. We noticed mothers would be discharged and reach home with nothing to eat, making it hard to produce breast milk. So we provide a food basket to make sure a mother has something to eat for a month, and we encourage her to save a small amount each day — for example, from doing laundry in the community — so that by the end of our one-year program, she has something to start with for herself.
And eighth, discipleship — we work with families spiritually and emotionally, helping them find strength, hope, and identity beyond survival. This model moves care beyond survival, toward stabilization and thriving.
Shelly-Ann Dakarai (30:25)That's a true continuum of care — you're addressing the whole socioeconomic picture for these families and building community, plus the ROP work on the medical side. You really have a 360-degree view of the patient, the family, and the community, providing the kind of continuity that healthcare systems often struggle to deliver — with a former preemie mom at the helm leading that change. That's remarkable.
Going back to something from earlier: given the scale of what you've described — thousands of visits, hundreds of baskets — you clearly rely on a lot of volunteers. I'm curious how you've been able to recruit volunteers, and once you became an official NGO, how you found donors and funding to sustain this work.
Isabelle Furaha (33:01)Thank you. We started with volunteers — I recruited ten members. We began setting aside a small amount of funds every month to help sustain the work. At that point, mothers gathered at my home, where we taught them different hand skills — some made clothes, others made paper bags — and we'd have people visit and buy from them, which became another way of raising funds.
We also did fundraising dinners, and we started giving out cards encouraging people to become monthly donors — sign-ups like, "I'll support five mothers for this period." I extended that reach to friends, since before starting Mama Tulia I was already working with an organization called Mercy for Mamas, providing mama kits — supplies for safe delivery — and talking with expectant mothers about birth preparedness. Anyone who gave a mama kit, I'd invite to become part of Mama Tulia, whether by volunteering for home visits or otherwise.
We also engaged the Village Health Teams — VHTs, as they're called here — community health workers who go around the community talking about immunization and other health topics. We told them: if you identify a preterm mother in your community, and you find more than five, we'll come and run outreach in your area. That became a win-win — they'd bring us mothers, and we'd provide services in return.
We also reached out to churches and other organizations to talk about our work, and simply shared what we do online — you never know who's watching. People would see the work and start donating. Eventually we started receiving grants, but that only began last year. Before that, it was all individual donations through our link.
Mbozu Sipalo (37:33)Out of curiosity about your funding story, which is incredible — the fact that you crowdsourced for so long takes a lot of energy and a real heart for people, because asking people for money isn't easy. I really commend you for that. Were you mostly local in your crowdsourcing at the beginning, or did you also target international donors? Was Mama Tulia locally funded for the first couple of years?
Isabelle Furaha (38:25)Yes, for the first three years it was entirely locally funded. As ten members, we found ways to raise funds ourselves — through those dinners, through people signing up with the donor cards, committing to support five mothers for a year.
Mbozu Sipalo (39:00)Incredible. My next question — your scope sounds wide-reaching, not just in Kampala. Do you work with the Ministry of Health, and do you have assigned community health workers through the Ministry, or is it all Mama Tulia staff working across regions? What does that look like?
Isabelle Furaha (39:30)We work closely with the Ministry of Health through the Newborn Working Committee, and we report to them as well. We also work with the VHTs, who help us with outreach, and with our champion mothers — preterm mothers themselves who've been through the same journey and want to give back, often to the very community where they were once supported, whether through psychosocial support or the kangaroo wraps we donate to NICUs (Neonatal Intensive Care Units) across Uganda.
We don't operate only in Kampala — we're also active in western Uganda, in Kasese, where we work closely with Bwera Hospital, engaging nurses and village teams there to carry out activities in that region.
On ROP — I don't even know where to start, because looking back, I'm amazed. I never imagined we'd be able to screen more than 2,000 babies and treat more than 100. It started as a camp. I reached out to an ophthalmologist who specializes in ROP after one of our mothers delayed screening and her baby went blind. I asked him what we could do to intervene, and he agreed to help — we started screening babies at his hospital. In our first camp we screened more than 30 babies, and three were found to have ROP.
Then I had to figure out what came next, since we'd identified babies who needed treatment. I talked to friends, and one offered to fund treatment — that's how it began. We ran two camps in 2023, then it became difficult to continue. In 2024, I took a step of faith and decided we'd run screenings twice a month. At the time I was still working a part-time job one day a week for another organization, and that income helped fund it, along with whatever small funding we had set aside.
After about six months, someone came forward and offered to fund the program going forward — that's how it really took off. ROP treatment is very expensive, which is why you rarely see it in public hospitals, mostly private ones. It just took courage, and trusting that the work that had been started would be sustained.
Today we're not only sustaining this program in one hospital in Kampala — we've extended it to western Uganda, and in January we piloted with another hospital in Kampala, where we'll soon begin screening as well.
Shelly-Ann Dakarai (45:49)I have a two-part question about your background. How much of your leadership did you learn through this process, versus what you came in with? What was your background before starting Mama Tulia — had you led organizations before? I'd love to hear about how you developed as a leader and what your leadership philosophy is, because from this conversation, you're clearly the kind of leader people want to follow — you cast the vision and inspire people to come along on the journey.
Mbozu Sipalo (46:34)And if I can add to that — the context of you being Congolese, exploring Uganda, and building this NGO here is also remarkable in itself, with its own nuances. I'd love for you to touch on that too.
Isabelle Furaha (47:14)I have a bachelor's degree in tourism and travel management, and at my church I was a Sunday school leader. As for leadership — honestly, I'm not sure exactly where it came from. I think it started with determination and a willingness to learn. Wherever I'd gotten to, I always wanted to learn how to do better, so I made sure I had mentors guiding me, and I read more about leadership.
Raising funds — that kind of leadership I think is just a gift I have. If I sit with you and talk to you about Mama Tulia, I promise you'll want to do something.
As for being Congolese — I came to Uganda for my studies. After finishing, I met my husband at church, and we got married. Even at church, I noticed it was full of young mothers who didn't know how to breastfeed properly or care for their babies. After service, I'd gather them and talk them through it. I think the leadership was already in me.
And I was willing to learn — especially the language, which wasn't easy since I'm a French speaker. I had to learn English and the local language too. That willingness to learn other cultures and fit into them was, I think, my strength, and it helped me become part of the community easily.
Shelly-Ann Dakarai (50:57)My follow-up — your days seem to have more than 24 hours in them. You mentioned working part-time while building Mama Tulia into what sounds like full-time work, plus your family and your role at church. How do you manage to get it all done, and do you have any tips for those of us coming up behind you?
Isabelle Furaha (51:39)That's a great question. I worked part-time for the first two years of Mama Tulia, then decided to leave that job and focus fully on the ministry. In the early days, we didn't have many volunteers, so coverage would shift day to day, and it was hard to make time for my family.
What helped was giving myself a break — I set aside every Thursday as a day to stay home, and I keep a schedule and a to-do list so I always know what I'm working on. I also set a rule: once I'm home, I don't touch my computer — that time is for my family. It really comes down to planning. If you don't plan, you'll end up overwhelmed and unfocused. Having a to-do list and clear boundaries around when I'm working and when I'm not has been what's allowed me to keep showing up for Mama Tulia.
Mbozu Sipalo (53:41)Thank you, Isabelle, for that overview of how you do what you do — it sounds like you had to work through the ebbs and flows to figure it out, and it's great to see where you are now. You mentioned mentors earlier, and we always love asking our guests about their mentorship experiences. Could you share about one or two mentors who've been impactful on your journey as the founder of a preemie organization? Maybe a story before we close.
Isabelle Furaha (54:36)I wasn't expecting our time to go so fast — I still had more to share about ROP — but it's okay. On mentors: the first was a woman named Grace. I watched her get so many things done, and whatever she planned, she followed through and executed. That was the first lesson I took from her, even though she wasn't in the newborn care space.
The second was a neonatal doctor, Dr. Anita, who works with women at the hospital. She made time to sit with me and guide me on the medical side, because I was coming at this purely from the perspective of, "we're doing charity work and helping people." She encouraged me to learn at least the basics of the medical side — which is part of why I'm currently taking a course in counseling; I really want to become a counselor.
I've also had other important people in this journey. Prof. Joy has been incredibly encouraging, especially with ROP — from the first time I met her, she encouraged me, and I've kept writing to her for guidance ever since, and she always responds and helps guide me forward.
Another is Silk, the founder of GFCNI, who has also been very important in my life, guiding me through this work. Sometimes it feels like too much, and you wonder if you can keep going, or why you even started — and these are the people who tell you, "No, no, keep going, you can do it, and you'll do it even better." Those people in my life have really kept me going.
Mbozu Sipalo (57:54)I'm glad to hear you mention Prof. Joy — she's been an influential person in my life too, and Uganda holds a special place in her heart since she was born there and has strong ties to the country. So it's wonderful to see her raising up other incredible women like you.
Mbozu Sipalo (58:23)Thank you for sharing that list of mentors. Over to you, Shelly-Ann.
Shelly-Ann Dakarai (58:31)My last big question is about advice for someone trying to make a difference. You mentioned you're not a medical person, but as a medical person myself, I can tell you the work you're doing is incredible. You've given us a masterclass in going from a passion — "this is how I want to help" — to building an organization that's flourished over more than ten years. What advice would you give someone who feels like they're not the right person to carry their dream forward? Or, what would you tell your younger self starting out?
Isabelle Furaha (59:32)Before I answer — when I mentioned to Prof. Joy that I'm not a medical person, she told me, "No, Isabelle, it's good that you're just you, a parent. We need you to be there — don't even think about the medical side."
What I'd say is: first, it starts with passion. For me it was a passion, and a decision — almost a vow I made in the hospital, that if I brought that baby home, I would come back and do this work. When I started, not everything went smoothly, but I held onto that passion, and seeing how we were helping mothers and babies — saving babies — I told myself I would not give up.
And another thing: however small your funding is, if you plan well, you can reach a lot of people. I never waited until I had big funding — I made a difference with the small amount I had. You don't have to wait until you can do something big. Other people will come alongside you to help, if you stay faithful with what you have and what you're doing.
Shelly-Ann Dakarai (01:01:40)Thank you. I know Mama Tulia isn't your name, but people are going to want to reach out after hearing this. Isabelle, how can people connect with you?
Isabelle Furaha (01:01:59)Thank you. The best way to connect with us is on Instagram — @mamatulia1 — and on X, also @mamatulia1. We're on Facebook as Mama Tulia, and we have a website, www.mamatulia.org. You can also reach us by email — my personal email is isabelfuraha@yahoo.fr, and our organizational email is mamatulia.ug@gmail.com.
Shelly-Ann Dakarai (01:02:48)We'll put all of that in the show notes so people can connect with you — I'm sure many will want to. Thank you so much for being on the podcast and sharing your story, and for leaving us inspired and encouraged that we can make a difference right where we are, with what we have in front of us. And to our listeners, thank you for joining us on another episode of the Global Neonatal Podcast.
Isabelle Furaha (01:02:57)Thank you very much, Shelly-Ann.
Shelly-Ann Dakarai (01:03:18)We hope you enjoyed this episode as much as we enjoyed the conversation. If there's someone you'd like us to interview, please reach out and let us know, and share this episode with someone you think it would help. Let's move faster together for newborn care. See you next time.