Category Archives: Humanitarian

Oct11

My Summer in Bolivia and What The The World Food Programme Is Doing There Now

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My Summer in Bolivia and What The The World Food Programme Is Doing There Now

Photo by Elizabeth Atalay

Boarding the cargo plane to San Ignacio

We held tightly to the ropes that held the crates of beer to the floor upon landing, and squealed as we hovered  slightly before coming back down hard .  So that’s why seatbelts on planes are so important! As the door opened we were hit with steamy air, thick with humidity and the scent of verdant earth. We had arrived in San Ignacio, Bolivia, in the middle of the jungle.   I turned to my friend Maria as we climbed down to the dirt runway, and exclaimed breathlessly, “you never told me”!   Maria has been my best friend since high school, and though we grew up in the same town outside of Boston, she had spent the year after her parents split up when she was 13, in Bolivia, where they were from.  San Ignacio, was the town her mother had grown up in, and where her grandparents still lived.  Chickens ran through the open structure of the home, and you poured buckets of water brought from the lake over you for showers in the outdoor shower stall.  I had never seen any place so beautiful, so wild, and natural in my entire life.  As we stepped off the cargo plane we had taken to get there, I was totally blown away.

Photo by Elizabeth Atalay

We spent the summer between sophomore and junior year of College in Bolivia visiting Maria’s relatives and traveling around the country.  I was struck by the economic extremes, while we stayed at one cousin’s house in the suburbs of La Paz, we met wealthy Bolivian kids who took us to the nightclubs in their BMW’s and had households full of staff.  This was contrasted by shacks climbing the sides of the hills that lined the city of La Paz where we stayed with her Aunt, there seemed to be no middle class, just ultra rich or what in the U.S.A. we would consider extremely poor.  Our summer in Bolivia was filled with crazy South American adventures of all kinds, and it cracked open my world. The people, food, landscapes and culture of Bolivia found a permanent place in my heart.

Photo by Elizabeth Atalay

When I heard about the World Food Program initiative to provide meals to school children in Bolivia I wanted to take part.  As a member of the Global Team of 200, a highly specialized group of Mom Bloggers for Social Good that concentrates on issues involving women and girls, children, world hunger and maternal health committed to Social Good, we are committed to spreading the word about important programs such as this.  The World Food Programme is part of the United Nations System and, is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The WFP provides meals to 80,000 children in Bolivia, which is one of the poorest countries in South America. Malnutrition causes stunting in 40% of the children in the poorest areas of Bolivia, and the World Food Program is working to break the cycle of hunger so the kids can get the nutrition they need to stay in school and to achieve their full potential.  

You can make one of the children benefitting from this program extremely happy by simply sending a message to one of the school children in Bolivia. There a communications officer will translate and share your messages with the kids as well as translate and deliver their answers back to you. Click here to send your message now.

Photo by Elizabeth Atalay

Oct11

October 11 Has Been Declared The International Day of The Girl

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October 11 Has Been Declared The International Day of The Girl

Photo by Michelle Amarante

The U.N. has declared October 11th as The International Day of The Girl.   We live in a world where some of us can take for granted the rights of our daughters.  While in other areas, girls live in oppression and subjugation.   In Pakistan, just the other day, a 14 year old girl was shot for speaking up about girls rights to education.   When watching the documentary Half The Sky last week, one of my favorite points made was that to educate a girl, is to educate a community.   By excluding their girls from the education process, a nation is really cheating itself out of half of its full potential.  Just  imagine the possibilities if these countries educated their girls along with the boys.  Only then can a community truly rise to its full potential.

On December 19, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.

For its first observance, this year’s Day will focus on child marriage, which is a fundamental human rights violation and impacts all aspects of a girl’s life. Child marriage denies a girl of her childhood, disrupts her education, limits her opportunities, increases her risk to be a victim of violence and abuse, jeopardizes her health and therefore constitutes an obstacle to the achievement of nearly every Millennium Development Goal (MDG) and the development of healthy communities.-UN.org

Click here to learn how you can help to empower girls around the world.  With the support of the world behind them, I cannot wait to see how our girls around the globe will change the world, and what they will accomplish!

Photos:  Elizabeth Atalay

I wrote this post as part of The Global Team of 200, a highly specialized group of members of Mom Bloggers for Social Good that concentrates on issues involving women and girls, children, world hunger and maternal health.

Our Motto: Individually we are all powerful. Together we can change the world. We believe in the power of collective action to help others and believe in ourselves to make this world a better place for our children and the world’s children.

Oct10

Twitterpated About The ONEMoms In Ethiopia

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Twitterpated About The ONEMoms In Ethiopia

Photo by Gabrielle Blair

Photo by Rana DiOrio

Photo by Liz Gumbinner

Photo by Alice Currah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cannot tear myself away from my twitter feed these days! I am pretty much a twitter neophyte, (usually I tweet out random things with misspellings to my thousands of followers that I immediately regret), but with the ONEMoms/ONEMums in Ethiopia this week, I am completely hooked on twitter. It has been so much fun to be able to truly follow along with them on their trip to Ethiopia, and to get real time photos and stories from the field.

 

FashionABLE scarf

From their arrival in Addis Ababa, to a visit to Mary Joy Center,  where ONEMom, Supermodel, and Activist Maya Haile and her husband celebrity Chef Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster sponsor ten children. To the FashionABLE factory, where gorgeous scarves are literally saving the lives of the women who make them, giving them an alternative to exploitation and providing a sustainable  business, and education. Those of us following along got a peek at the visit to the Hamlin Fistula Hospital where 90% of the women who are seen and treated are cured.  Each new place bringing photos and stories of hope flying home to us to share. The stories are all bursting with hope brought on by visiting these amazing facilities that are changing lives, saving lives.   The ONE Moms & ONEMums, are part of ONE.org,  “a movement of moms everywhere using their extraordinary power to spread awareness for the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease. These moms are leading a movement to promote education, engagement and activism on behalf of the world’s poorest”.- ONEMoms  ONE.org does not ask for money but for voices.

ONEMoms in Ethiopia

Voices for those without the ability to amplify their own voices. The children, the oppressed women, the ones with no outlet for their grievances but acceptance.  The twelve moms on this trip to Ethiopia are all women with strong voices in media and in their fields, a Publisher, a Pig Farmer, a Lawyer, a Scientist, Food Bloggers, Mom Bloggers, a Supermodel/Activist, and a designer, their diverse backgrounds coming together to send a shared message.  These programs are working, look at the progress, and the possibilities.  You too can add your voice by joining ONEMom.

 

 

 

 

 

You too can follow their amazing journey  and share it with others via SoundCloud, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, ONE Moms blog and the members individual blogs listed below. But I warn you; you may not be able to tear yourself away!

Gabrielle Blair, DesignMom @designmom
Alice Currah, Savory Sweet Life @SavorySweetLife
Rana DiOrio, Little Pickle Press @LPP_Media @RanaDiOrio
Asha Dornfest, Parent Hacks, @parenthacks
Cathleen Falsani, Sojourners @godgrrl
Liz Gumbinner, Cool Mom Picks and Mom101 @coolmompicks @mom101
Jennifer Howze, BritMums @jhowze
Christine Koh, Boston Mamas @bostonmamas
Michelle Pannell, Mummy from the Heart @michelletwinmum
Diana Prichard, Righteous Bacon @Diana_Prichard
Maya Haile Samuelsson, MarcusSamuelsson @GateHaileMaya
Kelly Wickham, Mocha Momma @mochamomma
Karen Walrond, Chookooloonks @Chookooloonks (the trip photographer)

Oct10

Trick-orTreat For UNICEF Provides An Alternative To Candy #T0T4UNICEF

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Trick-orTreat For UNICEF Provides An Alternative To Candy #T0T4UNICEF

It feels like blasphemy to say that Halloween had become my worst nightmare as a mother. I know I am supposed to love it, and for a long time I did. I loved it while my children were little, and so cute in their little costumes as they held my hand and we went Trick or Treating as a family. I could edit their candy score without protest. It was all very Norman Rockwell until we hit the Tweens. These days my kids are a little older, the cute costumes for my oldest daughter now come in Packages labeled “sexy vampire”, “sexy witch”…I mean have you seen the options for a young teen girl these days?! Horrifying! Not to mention that my kids no longer wish to Trick-or Treat when it’s light out, and only the younger two want me to go with them. It gets dark, we head out, and they run off with their friends leaving me frantically trying to find my four dispersed children in costumes, in the pitch darkness. Like I said, a mother’s worst nightmare. They do miraculously make it home safely with their massive hauls of candy, but does any child really need that much candy in their possession? What if all of that candy was money to go to UNICEF, it would certainly add up, even if half of what they brought home were donations. Although the UNICEF boxes have been around for 62 years, I had forgotten about them, so when I was reminded about the UNICEF Halloween boxes this year, I ordered them right away! Finally, I hope to have found a solution to what feels to me like a cute, fun tradition gone completely amok. The UNICEF Halloween boxes are a great way to teach children to give back ,and to feel good about helping other kids around the world. They can get some candy, sure, I bet they will still collect more than enough candy, but they will also be contributing to the over $160 Million dollars already collected by children through the UNICEF Trick-or-Treat box program over the years, money that goes to orphans in Nepal or to provide clean water to a child in Central America. If you are ready to get back to the basics this Halloween too, you can order your UNICEF Trick-or-Treat boxes here today. They offer a great alternative to all the sugar!

 

I am thrilled to be writing this post as a member of the newly formed Global Team of 200. “Individually we are all powerful. Together we can change the world. We believe in the power of collective action to help others and believe in ourselves to make this world a better place for our children and the world’s children”.-The Global Team of 200       visit the website, follow on Twitter or like on Facebook.

Sep30

Half The Sky – The Movement; Guest Post by Nicole Melancon

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Half The Sky – The Movement; Guest Post by Nicole Melancon

This is a guest post from my friend Nicole Melancon’s amazing blog Third Eye Mom. She did such a beautiful job introducing The Half The Sky book, movie, and movement that I asked if I could share her post here. I completely relate to her transformation from mom to activist, and that  pull to do more once our eyes are opened by information.

 

 

“This post is part of my Social Good Sunday series. “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” is a highly aclaimed book written by Nicholas D. Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn. A compelling four-hour documentary on the book is being shown for the first time on PBS on Monday, October 1 and Tuesday, October 2nd. See below for details.”-Nicole Melancon, www.Thirdeyemom.com 

Women hold up half the sky. – Chinese Proverb

Have you ever read a book that changed your life? Although this is a bold statement to be made, I can truthfully say that I have. “Half the Sky” is a book that changed my purpose in life forever.  It is the book that motivated me to transform from a modern stay-at-home mom to a life as an advocate, activist and a voice for social good and giving back. A path that started three years ago, and has evolved into unimaginable ways. A road I’m utterly excited to be following; a dream I’ve had for years. It is time to give back and there is no time more important than now.

So why did Half the Sky have such a powerful impact me? What is the book about?

The book is about women and girls and the extraordinary things they are doing around the globe to bring about change in the face of severe gender oppression and inequality. The book is not a light read. It is destined to leave anyone with a heart in tears. It is a tragic look into the hidden atrocities that are happening every minute to women and girls around the world. Modern day slavery, sex trafficking, genital mutilation, rape, honor killing, lack of education, maternal mortality, and the impact of fistula (a devastating treatable condition that occurs after childbirth and leaves a woman with incontinence, ridicule and isolation).

Yet despite all the devastation and oppression discussed in each page of this book, there is is hope. For the book is rightly named “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide”. Amazing things are happening right now in regards to women’s and girl’s rights. At the Social Good Summit and Clinton Global Initiative 2012 Annual meetings in New York City just this past week, women and girl’s rights were at the forefront of the conversation.

Per Sheryl WuDunn, “In the same way that slavery was a moral challenge for the 19th century and totalitarianism was a challenge for the 20th century, the challenge that women and girls face around the world is the moral challenge of our time”.

This message was reiterated over and over again by several high-level officials this past week in New York City. A message that sparked a global movement to address what WuDunn and Kristof dubbed “the central moral challenge of our time” – ending the oppression of women and girls world-wide.

Although women and girls around the globe face threats every day of their lives, hope and optimism remain that these courageous women are working to turn things around. Non-governmental organizations and powerful individuals are finding ways to increase awareness and provide ways for women and girls to escape the vicious cycle of poverty and abuse they face through initiatives to increase education, reproductive and maternal health care, and economic empowerment.

A four-hour documentary film inspired by the book will be run on PBS this Monday, October 1, 9/8 pm Central (Part 1 of 2) and Tuesday, October 2, 9/8 PM Central  (Part 2 of 2).  Filmed in 10 countries, the film follows Nicholas Kristof and celebrity activists on an inspiring journey to tell the stories of the courageous women working to bring about change to women and girls rights.

The documentary takes an inside look into what is really happening around the globe. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Yet also illustrates some of the inspiring changes that are happening as well, changes that empower women and girls to make a better life for themselves.

“In Cambodia, where 30 percent of prostitutes are children, Half the SKy examines the issue of sex trafficking. Meg Ryan and Nickolas Kristof meet Somaly Mam, herself sold into slavery as a young girl, but who is now a world-renowned leader in the anti-trafficking struggle”.

 

Besides the documentary, Kristof and WuDunn are taking the book one step further into perhaps unprecedented territory. They have partnered with leading NGO, Games for Change, to use technology as never before. Together they are creating games that change Half the Sky from simply a book to a movement focusing on ways to promote change. Change in attitude and beliefs that will help empower women and drive them out of poverty.

It is an ambitious program like never seen before. Kristof and WuDunn believe that with such a high percentage of the population having access to mobile phones, that now is the time to reach out to a new audience and impact change from the ground up. For example, in one Kenyan slum they visited, 75% of the one million people had cell phones but most did not have a TV. Half the Sky launched a mobile app for youth to learn about critical issues impacting their community such as teenage pregnancy, intestinal worms and female discrimination.  Half the Sky is hoping that gaming will act as a catalyst to impact behavioral changes and empower youth to make change.

To read more about Half the Sky’s upcoming games, click here. It is truly impressive!

To learn more, please visit Half the Sky Movement and see how you can help.

To read more from Nicole Melancon check out www.Thirdeyemom.com