Category Archives: Travel

Mar27

Screening of Girl Rising With Maternova

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Screening of Girl Rising With Maternova

As I watched my 10-year-old daughter practice cartwheels with her friends, I could not help but reflect on a girl the same age whose story I viewed in a film a couple of weeks ago. These carefree girls who whirl in front of me today are pure joy in motion.  They are all giggles and silliness, while arms and legs whip past.  The girl I reflect on was an 11-year-old pregnant child bride, and  pretty much the antithesis of the scene before me now.

Meg Wirth Founder of Maternova with Cable Car Cinema Owner Daniel Kamil.

Her stolen childhood was depicted to me in the Rhode Island premier of the groundbreaking documentary film Girl Rising.  Hosted at the Cable Car Cinema in Providence by Maternova. Girl Rising, was directed by Academy Award nominee Richard Robbins, and tells the story of 9 girls from around the world, girls living a very different reality than the one that I faced growing up, or that my daughters live today.  The girls in the film each take on the unique challenges of their lives, and are rising up despite those challenges, through determination and education.  It is the strength of their human spirit and will to move forward that gives the viewer hope for the girls of the world as well, and lets us envision better childhoods leading to successful lives for all girls worldwide in the future.   Each girl’s story was written by a known writer from her country and narrated by a well-known actress.  The stories were then woven in an innovative format that combines animation with documentary footage.  Statistics are threaded into each poignant narrative to help the viewer grasp where the girl child stands today, and what the possibilities are if we support her.

Girl Rising spotlights the stories of nine unforgettable girls born into unforgiving circumstances. Girls like Sokha, an orphan who rises from a life in the garbage dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia to become a star student and an accomplished dancer; Suma, who writes songs that help her endure forced servitude in Nepal and today crusades to free others; and Ruksana, an Indian “pavement-dweller” whose father sacrifices his own basic needs for his daughter’s dreams. -10×10.org on Girl Rising

One of the exciting aspects for me of being part of the Shot@Life campaign with the  United Nations Foundation, is learning about all of the other amazing United Nations Foundation initiatives taking place as well.   I head heard about the film Girl Rising as a centerpiece of the UN Foundation Girl Up campaign in partnership with the film’s creators at 10×10, a global movement promoting the education of girls in the developing world.   When I looked into a local screening I was thrilled to learn not only that Maternova was located right here in Rhode Island, but that they were hosting the Rhode Island premiere of Girl Rising at the Cable Car Cinema. Maternova is an amazing  mission-driven company committed to saving the lives of mothers and infants by providing healthcare innovations directly to frontline workers where they are most needed.  Maternova concurrently incubates new products in their field, and has established a non-profit to assist in their mission of promoting maternal and infant health in developing nations. The attendance roster in the theatre that night really highlights the innovative global humanitarian hub that Rhode Island is becoming.   With leaders in solutions to poverty, maternal health, and hunger  from Edesia Global Nutrition Solutions, Solar Sister, and our hosts from Maternova, these women are change agents who are coming up with solutions to some of the worlds most vexing problems, and I was honored to be in their company.  As a woman, as a mother, or as a global citizen with an interest in the future of our world, you will want to see Girl Rising.  The film is sure to deepen understanding of the challenges our girls face, and lead us toward solutions.  The Cable Car Cinema has one more screening of Girl Rising scheduled on the evening of April 1st, and Girl Rising will be broadcast by CNN Films this summer.  View the Film Trailer below and read 13 facts you should know about Girls and Education from 10×10 here.

Mar22

March 22nd Is World Water Day

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March 22nd Is World Water Day

Photo by Elizabeth Atalay

Many years ago traveling in Africa I took this photo of young girls carrying these huge jugs of water through their village to their homes.  This is a snapshot of a scene that I saw played out time and again in my travels through the continent. Lines at village hand pumps, and heavy jerry cans balanced on heads, hours fetching water that could otherwise have been spent by these young girls in school, or by the women earning a living.   By being there, at times the amount of effort put into accessing the most basic of human necessities, and the conservation required once obtained, became my own reality as well.  Having grown up with an abundance of water, this was a sharp learning curve on what a precious commodity water is.  It is easy to take it for granted when you have it, until you don’t.  According to statistics from WaterAid the average North American uses 400 liters of water every day, while the average person in the developing world uses 10 liters of water every day for their drinking, washing and cooking. (Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)) So, while I returned home to the many taps of flowing water inside my house with a new appreciation for that luxury, 783 million people around the world are without clean water to drink.  Combine that fact with the lack of proper sanitation in many of the same regions and the result is 2,000 children who die each day from water related diseases.

The United Nations has established March 22nd as a day to examine water issues around the world.

WaterAid is an International non-profit organization that helps the world’s poorest people to plan, build and manage their own safe water supplies and to improve their sanitation and hygiene.  These basic services transform lives.

“Water is just the beginning of the road out of poverty.  Hours spent carrying water can instead be spent with family, tending crops, raising livestock or starting a business.  Simple changes to sanitation and hygiene practices save thousands of babies’ lives and keep children in school.”- WaterAid.

How you can help:

  • Watch, and share the below video:

 

 

 

Follow WaterAid America on Twitter and Facebook and share their posts on the #20ways that water is just the beginning of the road out of poverty.

  • Join the World Water Day Google+ Hangout at 1.30pm EST on March 22 where WaterAid and other water organizations will be discussing the world water crisis and solutions in a celebration moderated by YouTube star Justine Ezarik.
  • Make a donation: as experts in practical, hands-on water solutions WaterAid has brought clean water to 17.5 million people. But they need your help to achieve their aim of helping 1.4 million more people this year.

 

Visit www.wateraidamerica.org/worldwaterday for all the latest World Water  Day news.

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.


Mar19

Do You Know What The Largest Living Organism On Earth Is?

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Do You Know What The Largest Living Organism On Earth Is?

When we ski in Colorado and I admire the beauty of the white Aspen trees that fan across the mountains, I remember this fascinating fact.  The Quaking Aspen Tree is the largest living organism on earth. Each individual tree is connected to the next by the root system underground, and each tree shares the same DNA.  That fact just grounds me to the natural beauty of this landscape. The largest organism is an Aspen colony called Pando  located in Utah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feb24

Go To Stowe,VT Winter Weekend

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Go To Stowe,VT Winter Weekend

Our absolute favorite winter family vacation is a ski trip, and a  Stowe, VT  winter weekend has become a local destination for our family.   It doesn’t hurt that we usually stay with friends at their Topnotch resort and spa townhouse when we go.  Topnotch has an amazing pool area, complete with hot tub, sauna and steam room,  van service to and from the mountain, and plenty of space for both of our families.   The spa is supposed to be wonderful too, but for some (4 kids) reason I haven’t had the opportunity to try it yet, and although my family skis downhill only, our friends rave about the cross-country facilities as well.   We have other friends who always stay at the Stoweflake, which is also supposed to be wonderful and has the added benefit of shopping nearby for those who don’t ski.    As much as we go for the skiing, there are lots of other fun things to do in the Stowe area which makes it  an ideal family getaway.  We love being active with our kids and surrounded by the natural beauty of the outdoors, and Stowe provides plenty of opportunities to do so.  New England temperatures can get quite low, so we are sure to be prepared with the right gear to keep us comfortable, good thermal underwear, balaclavas that go under our ski helmets, and for my husband his Chaval heated ski gloves.  Stowe knows that some skiers may come unprepared and has great shops stock with neccessities stategically placed on the mountain just in case.

 Winter Carnival is held  in the end of January, which was the weekend we happened to be there this year.  Sculptures of ice lined the Spruce Peak Courtyard from the Ice Carving contest , and a bonfire was lit in the outdoor fire-pit for the kids to roast marshmallows, and make s’mores while hot chocolate was served nearby.  We spend a couple of days skiing the mountain, fitting in as many stops as we could at the Waffle Cabin at the top of the gondola for the kids, and the Octagon at the top of the high speed Quad lift for lunch, where you can get deluxe meals like a shredded asian duck wrap (my fave) or seared tuna wrap (my husband’s fave) along with the typical ski fare. While in town we make sure to fit in some time to visit the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream factory and if you have never been it is worth it to take the tour (yes, you get free samples!).  We love the great food and cozy Italian atmosphere at Trattoria La Festa for a dinner out, and when we have time we head over to the Von Trapp Family lodge to sing and reminisce about one of our favorite family movies, The Sound of Music.  The kids are fascinated with the fact that this is owned by THE Von Trapp family from the movie, and that it is actually a true story.  The Trapp Family Lodge offers tours of the lodge which is lined with family photos, sleigh rides, cross country skiing, or you can visit the bakery, and brewery on the property to taste Austria pastries, and try the Trapp Lager that they brew on site.   The Von Trapp family settled in Stowe because it reminded them of the beautiful Austrian Mountain range of their homeland, and we agree that Stowe, VT is a spectacular setting.   On our way home we play the Sound of Music movie on our car DVD player to keep the kids entertained the whole way back.

Feb23

Chaval Heated Ski Gloves

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Chaval Heated Ski Gloves

The Chaval heated ski gloves came just in time.  We were days away from our ski weekend in Stowe,Vermont where temperatures had been hovering below zero each time we checked all week.  We were getting anxious because in the past few years my husband has developed Raynaud’s in his fingers.  Raynaud’s is a painful cold induced condition that looks a lot like frostbite, where his fingertips turn white, and it alternately causes pain or numbness.  It is tough to avoid in New England winter conditions, and can really put a damper on a family ski trip for him. He has been searching for heated ski gloves for the past few years since developing Raynaud’s, but heated ski gloves are pricey, and he had researched many pairs with poor to mixed reviews that did not seem worth the investment.  This year a new product on the market, with a new technology, caught his eye. Read the rest of this entry →