IT HAPPENED a few years ago, but the memory is as fresh to Moamenla Jamir as if it were yesterday. Jamir was a university theology student in her home state of Nagaland, in northeast India, and was with her two best friends. At a time when they should have been happy - they were studying for degrees and had their whole lives ahead of them - the three were in tears. Both Jamir's friends had discovered they were pregnant and they were terrified.
'If the college found out they were pregnant they would have been kicked out, and there was no way they could have gone home because their parents would have disowned them,' Jamir says. 'All I could do was sit with them when they were crying. It made a very big impression on me. Abortion shouldn't be the only option.'
Jamir is softly spoken, modest and shy, but that day left her with a determination that has seen the 28-year-old give up on a conventional career and income to start Mother's Hope, which helps women who find themselves pregnant in a country where sex before marriage is frowned upon and abortion is illegal.
Jamir set up Mother's Hope in Dimapur, Nagaland, after doing volunteer work with the Hong Kong charity Mother's Choice for more than two years. While here she qualified in childcare and social services, and was taken under the wing of the Mother's Choice management who taught her the many skills needed to run a charity.
Mother's Hope is affiliated to Mother's Choice, so Jamir, her brother who works as a volunteer and the nine paid staff benefit from advice and training. But as an independent organisation, the funding and expansion of Mother's Hope is Jamir's responsibility. Mother's Choice board members visit Mother's Hope several times a year and stay in close contact.
Recently back in Hong Kong for meetings with Mother's Choice directors, Jamir was keen to raise the profile of Mother's Hope and visited a number of schools that have donated bottles and nappies.
'The community support that Mother's Choice has in Hong Kong is very encouraging,' Jamir says. 'That's the kind of community support that I dream of having and I'm trying to build.'
