On 25 June, at the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Seville, we celebrated with great emotion the closing of the MadresUP Programme with African Mothers, a community intervention that brought together 14 migrant mothers from different African countries in a space of encounter, care and mutual support.
During the month of June, the mothers met twice a week for three hours at the Faculty of Psychology to share experiences, strengthen ties and access practical tools about daily life in migration contexts. The process was led by four mentor mothers of African origin – Binta, Faith, Nezha and Gertrude –who had previously been trained as mentors by the MadresUP team.
The programme combined training, creativity and self-care. Among the most significant activities were the following:
- Creative spaces, such as the making of fans with African fabrics guided by Clotilde Yenenga, an enterprising migrant mother from Burkina Faso.
- Self-care dynamics, including body movements, body mapping and spaces for emotional expression through drawing on canvas.
- Gastronomic exchanges, in which each mother shared typical food from her country of origin, promoting cultural recognition and integration.
- A professionally recorded song, sung by the mothers themselves, capturing their strength, hope, and dreams.
The final session was a moving graduation space, where we celebrated not only the completion of the programme, but also the growth, strength and resilience of each participating mother.
This community intervention was also carried out with the accompaniment of Yenelis Diaz-Medina, contract researcher of the project; Virginia Paloma, CESPYD coordinator and principal investigator; and Julia Jiménez-Ceballos, PhD students at the University of Seville and part of the Spanish Red Cross. We also have the collaboration of Elena Guichot-Bordons, Lucía Fernández and Lucy Cevallos.
With this programme we reaffirm our commitment to the promotion of migrant women’s community leadership and the building of support networks based on mutual recognition and accompaniment.
Congratulations to each mother for her perseverance, commitment and confidence throughout this process!