Today, we want to introduce you to Judith Nassali, National Director of African Women and Girls Organization-Uganda, the TM women’s organization in Uganda, and her team of teachers.
In Uganda, the challenges facing women are very great—75% of women live in poverty, and education and maternal care are critical issues, especially in rural areas. Judith Nassali is one of the great souls devoting her life to help the women and girls in her country to overcome stress and the challenges they face.
Judith’s story—As a young woman just finishing my studies, my direction in life wasn’t clear. I had graduated with a business degree, but it was so challenging figuring out how to balance my personal life as a mother of two children, with anything outside me. Even finding work was a challenge, and this resulted in just being unproductive.
I was fortunate one day to be invited to a “Stress Management Lecture” for women on Transcendental Meditation. I thought that if millions of people around the world could have benefits from TM so could I! I decided to learn TM, and that turned out to be the best decision I could have ever made.
Immediate benefits For the first time in my life I felt connected to something deep inside myself, and I could feel myself start to change in so many ways. I became more clear-minded and intelligent, I was getting along better with others, and I was more energetic and happy. Thankfully, TM also helped me be a more patient and understanding mother—better able to balance all parts of my life, and become more clear about the way forward.
A new direction I felt that I was ready to take on more responsibility and wanted to do something to serve others. I decided to become a TM teacher to give this gift to the women and girls of Uganda. After completing my TM Teacher Training Course in Thailand, it was so deeply rewarding to teach the most vulnerable women in our area. The changes in their lives were dramatic. They enjoyed the same benefits from TM that I had; they were now part of the millions of people from around the world! They loved that connection. I knew I had made a career decision that soared beyond anything I could have dreamt of before becoming a teacher.
Our organization grew… as the National Director for our women’s TM organization, my dream is coming true—we have an active TM women’s center and our team of teachers work with government agencies, schools, the nurses union, and women’s empowerment groups. We have TM clubs for children, we host special advanced meetings for women and speak at high level conferences about TM. I’m proud to say, that we are always the most unique presentation at these events! Most importantly, we are respected and sought after from within our community…truly a dream coming true.
Meet our TM teachers
Judith and her Team
Kiconco Night
Nassali Teddy
Nkaga Dede Manoka
Nankya Grace
Acom Sarah
Each of our teachers is focusing on a specific area of our work. Kiconco is working with UWOPED (United Women’s Platform for Empowerment and Development) coordinating TM activities, including ongoing follow-up and meetings for the 600 women served by UWOPED. Teddy’s area of focus has been the implementation of TM programs in schools with a special focus at Peace High School, where half of the students have learned the Transcendental Meditation technique as part of the Quiet Time project. Dede’s main focus is working with the Refugee Foundation project, an organization that serves all categories of refugees, especially the Congolese. Grace combines her skills as a certified teacher of the Transcendental Meditation technique, with her role as Headmistress of the EDAPO School (Economic Development and Aids Prevention Organization), an orphanage school with over 300 students, both boys and girls, where all the students have learned the Transcendental Meditation technique. And Sarah is currently using her skill as a TM teacher and her manager training in her role as a school manager at Ideal Girls High School in Mbale.
We have a lot to be proud of, and look forward to great expansion of our programs in the future!
